


A Wolf And A Luthor

by RogueTiger



Series: The Wolves of Purgatory [4]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015), Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2020-10-19 08:54:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 72,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20654525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RogueTiger/pseuds/RogueTiger
Summary: Several months after Lex revealed that her best friend was Supergirl, Lena Luthor has all but cut ties with National City's hero after giving her time to come clean on her own and has been drowning herself in work in an effort to create space to think and work through her issues. Her decision to leave work early (early for Lena) is spoiled by her quarterly kidnapping/assassination attempt and a portal that opens up before Supergirl can save her.AKA. Lena Luthor ends up in the Purgatory occupied by werewolf Nicole and the gang (Earth-69 maybe? Wynonna would love that).For Supergirl watchers this is set (speculatively) after season 4. Lena knows, Kara doesn't know that Lena knows.For Lone Wolf fans this is set after Full Moon and also after the sequel I'm still plotting out.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a strange little idea that popped into my head when I should have been re-reading Red Daughter to work on that. Right now there is no update schedule and it could end up just being a short story when I get to it or get sucked up into another Lone Wolf sequel. I really don't know but I wrote 6500ish words so you get to read it if you want :p
> 
> The title is just a little play on the "A Luthor and a Super" line.
> 
> **AN - To help first-time readers of this series I'll put this here to hopefully help a little with the world. Depending on the length of the story and things that come up, you will probably find out things when Lena does as it is too much to get into a note :) but...**
> 
> **The werewolves in this AU are born and not created by bites. From an early age (usually 8) they can change into two wolf forms, one which they can change into at any time that is essentially a huge version of a wolf. During the full moon they can change into a bigger form that can run on two legs and can talk (both forms are cute cause I say so and I prefer Laurell K. Hamilton's take on what they look like).**
> 
> **Alpha's and Omega's are a thing but there is no G!P in this series as while I love to read them, I didn't feel like I could do one justice.**
> 
> **Wynonna is the pack leader even though Nicole is stronger (that will be explained). They, as well as Doc and Xavier are alphas (both in a loving poly relationship with Wynonna). Waverly is an omega.**
> 
> **I hope that helps :) if you have any questions though, feel free to ask.**

## National City

Lena Luthor was all too aware of the guns jabbing sharply into her ribs from either side with enough force to no doubt leave behind a nice set of bruises. She made a determined effort to hold her position on the back seat of her Bentley, her training at her mother’s hands holding her steady as the sorry excuse for a getaway driver spun the wheel sharply to take a corner at a speed he obviously wasn’t trained to handle.

“Go faster! Faster! Put your fucking foot down”

It was a manoeuvre that Frank could have handled with ease while blindfolded. But, as Frank was currently lying unconscious at the side of the road outside of L-Corp after being bludgeoned on the back of the head by the thugs seemingly in charge of her quarterly kidnapping/assassination attempt; the big, powerful vehicle skidded out of control and bounced off the curb so sharply that the opposite side started to lift. For one long moment, Lena feared that it might catapult them into the wall of a building or through one of the many storefronts on that stretch of road as it teetered on two wheels before finally bumping back onto four. With a squeal of protest, they sped onwards through the brightly lit streets of downtown National City leaving behind confused citizens who glanced around to watch their passing before they went about their business.

With people that were used to dodging falling masonry and regular battles between aliens and the occasional invasion or impending apocalypse, one speeding car was hardly worthy of their attention so Lena couldn’t really begrudge them for their blasé attitude to yet another Luthor kidnapping.

That being said though, it really didn’t bode well for her that they hadn’t bothered to blindfold her. They were either really inexperienced and hadn’t figured out that leaving behind someone that could identify them was a bad thing, or they didn’t plan on letting her go. Either way, it was not good for her.

‘Just a regular day in the life of Lena Luthor’, she thought bitterly.

It was all her fault of course. If she had just kept working through the night as usual; none of this would have been possible. But no, for the first time in _months_, she had decided to leave L-Corp early; Jess would have tutted and pushed her role as Personal Assistant and changed ‘early’ to ‘at all’. Even if things had been normal, it would have been early for her, she was well aware that most CEO’s didn’t work anywhere near as late as she did but, most CEO’s weren’t drowning themselves in work as an excuse to avoid talking to their former best friend.

Actually, Lena decided as she crossed her arms and glared belligerently at the distant streak of red and blue she could see reflected in the glass of a building, it was all _her_ fault. _She_ had been very insistent that day, trying to visit her as both Kara Danvers and Supergirl, unaware that Lena knew her secret identity and all her lies, and raking up all the pain Lena was still trying to pack away into tiny boxes after Lex had revealed Kara’s secret with his dying breath after she had shot him.

She had shot him! Killed her own brother! For the sake of the world at large, but mostly to keep Kara and the other friends she had made since coming to National City safe! He had already used her ill-advised relationship with James to manipulate her into working with the Harun-el after she had abandoned her trials and she couldn’t have him threatening them because of her so she had put an end to him.

But he, as always, had had one last ace up his sleeve.

_“When I’m gone, who will be left to be proud of you? Your friends? The jokes on you. It’s always been on you! Your friends have been lying to you from the start. Your boyfriend, Jimmy. Alex. J’onn. That little alien runt, Brainy. Even your own mother. They mocked you. Humiliated you. Betrayed you. Every. Last. One.”_

_“Denial is a very powerful thing, isn’t it? It’s been standing right in front of you all this time. And you chose not to see it. Kara Danvers is Supergirl.”_

She had heard his words over and over since that day. They chased and tormented her along with the images he had shown her of Kara, her beloved former friend, using her powers while still making sure to keep them secret! That day when Mercy had attacked L-Corp could have been over in seconds but instead, Kara had hidden what she was, who she was, and had played the part of a scared human while they had run around.

Then there was Kaznia. Lena could still taste the fear she had felt when the building had exploded with Kara still in it but she had been safe all along and probably busy burning more evidence that Lex or Red Daughter had about her there.

It made her head hurt and her hand itch to feel the weight of the thick glass of a whiskey tumbler filled with several fingers of the amber liquid in her grasp just thinking about it. She was trying to give that destructive habit up before she became like her father, but, right then, it was a temptation she hoped she got to enjoy again.

Lena didn’t want to be kidnapped, but suddenly she was almost rooting for the driver to pull off a miracle. One that would get them out of there so she wouldn’t have to face Kara. Wouldn’t have to face the fact that she had willingly been fooled by, of all things, a ponytail and a pair of glasses.

She was a certified genius, she should have seen it! Just as she should have known better than to fall for her painfully straight best friend. Twice over too! While they/she had what? Used her identities to keep an eye on a Luthor to make sure she didn’t go insane like Lex and used her for information for her day job as a reporter?

Just how many impromptu visits to her office, brunches and invites to games nights and movies had ended up being interviews and not so subtle conversations to pump information out of her about people Supergirl was suddenly facing off against?

Did she even really know the real Kara? She thought she had but how could she really? Her friends knew her. They knew Kara Danvers and Supergirl, and the woman that was all of those parts whereas to Lena she was kept as two separate entities and she was locked out from the real woman.

She had told Supergirl/Kara once that she could get behind secrets, and she could, she had her own. Kara’s secret identity had been hers to keep and reveal to who she chose. And that was what sometimes felt like it hurt the most; that beneath Kara’s offer of friendship lay a hardened core that just didn’t trust her. The side of her that had asked James to break into her safe; the side that had berated her to trying to cure Sam with Kryptonite while the people she worked with had bullets and weapons made with it.

Lena could have understood if Kara had kept it as just acquaintances between them but they had been friends. Or so she had thought. And that twisted her up inside and made her question every interaction she had ever had with Kara Danvers and Supergirl and picking them apart until it was stripped down and shredded to shards and pushed into poorly sealed boxes in her mind that leaked poison and ate at her from within.

As much as Lena had wanted to confront Kara, she had given her time to come clean, dropping thinly veiled hints in the hopes that she would take them so they might be able to move forward. But Kara had dodged and rushed away for a month before Lena had finally called it quits and sold her share of Catco and was still debating on if a move to a different state or country wouldn’t be in her best interest.

She didn’t want to become her brother.

She didn’t _want_ to hate Supergirl.

But, all the times Kara had called her good and kind had been tainted and eroded away in her mind by accusations and harsh glares until that was all she could see. Gone was the ‘I’ll always be by your side’ and left behind was the ‘It's not a great question for a Luthor to ask someone in my family’. It had left Lena at the point where she could no longer stand to look at her without wanting to cry and unleash a wild right hook that would have made her Irish ancestors proud, even though she would probably shatter her hand against Kara’s unbreakable jaw in the process.

It was just too much for her right then.

She needed distance.

A whoosh of air been displaced and the snap of a cape yanked Lena out of her thoughts and made her glance up and then forward to the road ahead. The red and blue of Kara’s super-suit shone in the headlights of the car where she stood in typical hero pose with her fists planted on her hips, her hair and cape still flowing and fluttering from her speedy flight through National City.

“Put your foot down! Run the bitch over!”

Lena could have almost applauded their determination. If it hadn’t been so mind-blowingly stupid! Did the idiots not watch the news? Supergirl had flown a spaceship into orbit! She’d caught planes, beat Superman, and brushed off bullets like they were petals being tossed at her! Her Bentley was going to be like throwing an expensive wadded up ball of paper to her. And it, and they, would probably end up looking far worse than that once it was done being crumpled against her body.

“No!”

Lena lurched forward to try and grab the driver but a sharp blow from the side had stars bursting across her eyes and blood trickling down her temple. Through the windscreen she briefly saw anger flare across Kara’s face, turning her eyes a blue-white as her heat-vision burst to life to merge with a brilliant, swirling vortex of light that suddenly filled the road ahead between them and Kara.

Throwing up her arms along with everyone else in the vehicle, Lena tried to catch a glimpse at whatever was ahead before the Bentley plunged into the heart of the light and everything went black.

**********

## Purgatory

Wary of the scree still skittering and sliding down the side of the mountain, audible even above the torrent of rain pounding down around her shoulders, Nicole edged along the road towards the gaping hole where there had once been a road. She stepped lightly, ready to leap clear at a moment notice where she could feel the give in the thick layer of tarmac beneath her feet where the aggregate and the ground beneath were no more.

She whistled quietly under her breath as she looked down and down into a darkness so deep not even her heightened senses, let alone the flashlight in her hand, could see to the bottom of it. The gap in the road was wide, rainwater and gravel tipping over the edges like miniature waterfalls. The other side of the gap was blocked by boulders and the remains of trees that had slipped from above.

“How’s it going up there Haughshot?!”

Nicole rolled her eyes and fought down the instinctive urge to tell Wynonna off for not using proper call signs and protocol. She knew it would be hopeless though; Wynonna just did not follow rules unless it suited her and fighting against that just made her dig in more.

“It’s gone.”

“What is? ‘Cause if you mean your sense of humour, I don’t think you ever had one, Haughty.”

Nicole’s lips compressed into a thin line in exasperation. They were several weeks away from it being a full moon and already Wynonna was getting antsy and a bit more unbearable than usual with the energy it was putting out. “The road, Earp. The road is gone! Where’s J.D. anyway, I told him to keep you away from the radio?”

“First of all, rude! He’s busy putting out warning signs just like you told him to.”

“Wynonna, why aren’t you helping him?”

“I am! I’m staying dry and out of the way and guarding the doughnuts like a good wolf.”

“You told him you’d smell like a wet dog if you went out in the rain didn’t you?” Nicole sighed.

“You think you know me so well, Haught,” she gasped. “Okay, I did, maybe! What can I say? I hate getting wet and he’s still so gullible. And these doughnuts are— Erm, were, too good to resist.”

Nicole rolled her eyes to the heavens and tipped her head back, letting the torrent of rain wash away the frustration that seemed to come hand in hand with having Wynonna for a friend. “Could you just stop being an ass and go help him, Wynonna, please? If anyone comes driving up here and hits this, they’re not going to make it. And I’m not exaggerating,” she quickly added before Wynonna could accuse her of that. “I looked with my senses and I can’t see the bottom.”

“Okay. Okay. Fine.”

There was silence for a moment, the only noise coming from the rain striking the ground and the supposedly waterproof gear she was wearing. And then, above it all, Nicole heard the pop! pop! of shots being fired down from where she had left them to guard the road several miles back while she had investigated the reports of a blocked road.

“Earp!? J.D.?! Wynonna!”

“Haught! You’ve got incoming! Some dipshits just came outta nowhere with guns blazin’! Get off me J.D! I will bite your ass if you try to take the radio again! Do you hear me, Haught? They just appeared right in front of us in a huge assed car—”

“Bentley! It was a Bentley!”

“I don’t give two fucks if it was Satan’s hearse J.D.! They shot at us when J.D. tried to flag them down and they’re on their way up to you!”

The frustration and worry in Wynonna’s voice came over loud and clear even over the crackle of the radio. And coming from a woman that usually laughed and sassed her way through everything, it was disconcerting to hear and had Nicole freezing for a second until duty overcame concern and she raced down the road to where she could see the bright glare of headlights careering toward her with too much speed for the conditions and the narrow mountain road.

Rather than bothering to climb into her parked up SUV, Nicole grabbed the front end in passing, lifted and physically turned the vehicle around so that the headlights shone as a warning. It had the unfortunate effect of casting her in darkness but she was hoping that it might get them to slow them down.

**********

“Slow down! For god’s sake, slow down!”

Lena struggled against the arm pushing her back into the seat as the driver ignored her pleas and put his foot down even heavier on the pedal despite the narrowness of the road they had suddenly, inexplicably, found themselves on.

In the space between beats of her heart, they had gone from a brightly lit street in downtown National City, to a dark, twisting road, slick with rain that had come from nowhere to pound against the bodywork of the Bentley with such ferocity that the wipers could barely keep the windscreen clear once the driver had managed to find the switch to get them working and revealed the steep cliff rising up on one side and the sheer drop off on the other side. And instead of National City’s resident _Girl of Steel_, there was a series of reflective warning signs that the Bentley crashed through and a police cruiser ahead of them.

Wind and rain rushed through windows and the kidnappers opened them and leaned out to fire at the figures trying to flag them down.

Warning signs? There had been warning signs!

Lena’s mind raced frantically as she pieced together what she knew. One: they weren’t where they had been moments before. She was pretty sure there were no roads in National City that matched what was flying past outside the car. Two: while she hadn’t been able to make out the police officers in detail, the cruiser wasn’t in NCPD livery and they had been trying to flag them down not aggressively trying to stop them so they didn’t know she’d been kidnapped. Three: the warning signs. What were they warning about?

“You need to stop!”

“Keep her quiet!”

“You’re going to get us killed!”

“What in the hell—!”

Lena looked back at the road ahead. There was another vehicle ahead of them parked in the middle of the road. The red of taillights were suddenly replaced by the white of headlights with a speed and sharpness of turn that was impossible. Through the beams, she saw the dark silhouette of a figure and her heart lurched and pounded at the thought that Kara had found them even as her quick mind pointed out that the figure had been too bulky.

“Boss—?”

“There’s room, go around it! If you take your foot off the gas once more, I’ll put a bullet in you! Drive!”

Lena’s heart sounded loud in her ears, drowning out the throaty roar of the engine as the car lurched and picked up speed right towards the figure racing toward them out of the beams of the cruiser. Their speed was fast, otherworldly, but it didn’t stop the driver pointing the front of the car at them under the direction of the man at his side.

Move! Move! Move! The chant rang through her head, a silent plea to the figure that never had the chance to find a voice as they were on them too fast. The person leapt up in a futile attempt to clear the car. Lena winced at the dull thuds of a body striking the roof. Her eyes followed them and fell to the rear window to see the body lying broken on the rain-soaked road.

Only, there was no broken body to see.

Instead, she stared in shock as the person came out of a crouch and the bulky jacket they had been wearing ripped and dropped to the road as a massive beast started running after them, its coat shining a rich auburn as a flash of lightning lit the night as bright as day.

**********

With teeth bared in a snarl, her ears flattening back in anger, Nicole dug her claws into the asphalt deep enough to leave gouges and pushed forward after the car. She closed on it quickly, her claws grazing across the bumper only to slide and gouge chunks out of the rain slickened material before she could get a grip.

Leaping forward, she punched her fingers through the metal of the boot, her weight pulling the front end of the car up but not off the ground as she leaned back and dug her feet in to slow it down. She ducked as a gun swung her way and a muzzled flashed as the window cracked into a million pieces. Bullets thudded into the bodywork and pain burned across the back of her hand as one got too close.

Digging her feet deeper into the road, Nicole tried to slow the progress of the car and maintain control at the same time. If not for the woman she had seen before she had made a hasty leap over the car, Nicole would have simply knocked it against the side of the mountain and ended it there and then. But, there was a woman there. And, despite the poised expression on her pale face, Nicole had seen the fear in her eyes and the blood on her temple. If that wasn’t confirmation enough that she was in trouble, the fact that she was now trying to wrestle control of a gun away from the man to her right, left Nicole in no doubt.

Punching through the shattered window, she grabbed the man by the back of his jacket, yanked him through the window and tossed him to the side of the road. The woman looked at the empty place at her side and then glanced at her, her red-painted mouth falling open into an ‘O’ that matched her eyes in a look that would have looked quite comical if the situation hadn’t been so dire.

Leaping again, Nicole avoided the shots been fired at her and made her way onto the roof of the speeding car. Ahead she could see the black hole in the road highlighted by another flash of lightning but the driver either didn’t see it or didn’t care as he never let off the speed.

Weighing up her options, Nicole ripped the back left door clean off and gave the gunman there the same treatment as the other. If she could stop the car and save everyone, that would be great. Her main priority, however, was the woman caught up in whatever they were doing. She reached in once more as far as she could with her size hindering instead of helping but before she could assure the woman it was okay to accept her help, the car lurched violently to the side and the driver cried out as the wheel was yanked from his hands and Nicole was thrown off as the car scraped her against a tree at the side of the road.

Grabbing at the road to halt her wild tumble, Nicole could do little more than watch as the Bentley rolled and flipped down the road with a sickening grinding of metal and a shower of sparks. It came to rest for a moment, the smell of fuel heavy in the air as a figure scrambled to safety from the front.

It teetered and swung.

And then, it slid forward, vanishing into the hole where the road had been before Nicole could regain her feet.

Racing to the edge, Nicole dropped to her knees and peered down into the darkness. Breathing in, she tracked the sharp scent of fuel, hot metal and fear that painted an afterimage of colour in her mind down to where the twisted remains of the expensive car had somehow, blessedly, become wedged in place by a blockage of boulders and downed trees.

“Haught! Nicole! Where the fuck are— Holy shit!”

Nicole steadied her position as Wynonna used her body as a support to lean over for a better look. “Earp, can you get my spare harness and ropes from the lockbox in the back of my car?”

“Baby girl was going to get lucky this weekend, huh?”

“It’s for emergencies and impromptu excursions, Earp,” Nicole admonished, swotting her friend's shoulder to urge her to hurry. “And this time you better not have swapped my shit out and it better be my climbing harness you bring back! That was embarrassing last time!” Though she guessed she ought to be thankful that Wynonna hadn’t put a dildo in it. She’d said she’d wanted to put the rainbow one in it until she’d remembered where it had been and she didn’t want to touch anything that had been in her sister’s vajayjay. “Oh, and keep an eye out, there are at least three gunmen out there somewhere.”

The warning has the alpha’s eyes narrowing, her head dipping with a curt nod as she jogs back towards her car. Wynonna was the queen of inappropriately timed humour but she knew when to drop it and become serious. Right then though, Nicole hoped she got back in time as the water still pouring relentlessly into the gaping wound in the mountain was making the blockage shift and the car gave a small lurch and sank down a foot that had the woman trapped within letting out a gasp before it settled.

With horrendously bad timing, gunfire rang out and Nicole knew she, and especially the woman, were running out of time. Moving a little way to the side so as not to send anything heavy falling onto the car, she slipped over the side of the hole and dug her hands and feet into the loose sides to find purchase.

The car was a good twenty to twenty-five foot below where the road had been with its nose down and ass pointing up at the night sky as Nicole approached it quickly but carefully. The side with the missing door was wedged against a boulder and getting to it would mean crossing across the back of the car, which could have things shifting, while the other side looked even worse as, from what she could see, it looked like the frame had been twisted in a way that the door trapped behind it. Quick or slow, whatever she tried would have a high chance of loosening the whole thing.

Nicole edged closer to get a look inside.

The driver was still, his body entangled with the steering wheel and what looked to be a portion of the engine as a branch that had gone clear through his body like a spear.

The woman had been thrown out of her seat but thankfully she hadn’t ended up in the front. Instead, she was still in a precarious position though; her body dangling over the front seats. Blood was oozing and dripping from various cuts to mingle with the rain falling through the broken back window. The worst of her injuries the Nicole could see was from a gash to her right thigh.

“Can you hear me?”

Light green eyes focussed and locked on her, fear blooming within them that had the woman’s body jerking hard enough to have Nicole fearing for the stability of the car.

“It’s okay, I’m here to help.”

The woman’s brow creased, the fear bleeding away to be replaced by an intense look that had Nicole feeling like she was under a microscope.

“Don’t try to move but just wiggle your toes and everything. See if there’s any numbness or lack of feeling. Can you do that for me?”

“What— what are you?”

“Name is Haught, ma’am. Sheriff Nicole Haught.”

“Haught? Your name is Haught?”

Nicole had to admire the woman’s ability to cope in difficult situations with how she went from looking terrified to looking like she was fighting to hold back a smirk behind her bright lipstick. “How about you just call me Nicole, okay?”

“Okay, Nicole it is.”

“Can you tell me your name, ma’am? Unless you like ma’am that is.”

“Lena. Lena Luthor.”

Nicole wasn’t sure why she suddenly looked fearful when she said her name, that could be looked into later if need be, but Nicole went for a gentle smile. Or as gentle as she could make it with a mouthful of gleaming teeth in that form. “Pleasure to meet you, Lena. Well, it will be once we get you out of there. How’s that wiggling coming along?”

“Doesn’t seem to be anything broken. No numbness. Which is frankly a miracle. My leg hurts though,” she bit into her lip as she flexed it again and felt a fresh wave of pain rising up that had her vision swimming.

“Easy there. Looks like you got sliced up on something on the way down.” She glanced up as a fresh volley of gunfire rang out sounding closer than before. “Do you think you’re up to climbing up?”

“I— I’m not sure. Kind of feeling woozy.”

“Stay with me, Lena!” Nicole ordered urgently. “I’m not going to let you fall but I need you to stay with me!”

“Always—”

“Shit,” Nicole growled as Lena’s voice faded away as her eyes rolled back to white, and her body grew lax as she collapsed, boneless.

She was so fixated on what was happening before her that she almost lost her tenuous grip on the wall as rope and harness fell down around her head to coil around her shoulders. A glance up showed no sign of Wynonna but another burst of gunfire told her the alpha was busy with what was going on up there.

Quickly assessing what little there was in the way of options, Nicole dropped the end of the rope down into the vehicle and shifted form so she was small enough to follow it in through the window. Lena stirred as she neared and blinked at her owlishly.

The vehicle gave a groan and shifted sharply downwards again as the water eroded more of the blockage.

“You need to get this—”

It was too late! Everything started to slide and shift and Nicole grabbed Lena off the seat and into her arms. Holding her close, she kept a firm grip on her and the rope in her hand. She felt the roof of the car buffeting her and kicked off from the backseat headrests, guiding them as best as she could out of the window so that she took and knocks as the car fell away into the darkness and left them dangling and spinning on the end of the rope.

“Well, that was fun. Are you okay?”

“I’ve had better days… In all fairness, I’ve had worse ones too.”

Dangling off a rope with a woman that could apparently turn into some kind of a wolf-monster that was a new one for Lena though. Trying to ignore that darkness lying below where their feet dangled, she focussed on the woman holding her. She seemed, from what she could tell, to be a similar height to Kara. Not that she wanted to think about her former best friend. She had seen aliens that could change shape and size; some it was more illusion and didn’t stand up to close scrutiny and some, like J’onn who could assume the forms of other people. But Lena had never seen one that could take the form that Nicole had. Her mind itched to know what she was, how she did it, but right then probably wasn’t the best time to be playing twenty questions with her rescuer.

“How’r we going to get out of here?”

“Quickly. Can you hold on to me tighter, Lena?”

“Mhm.”

Nicole frowned at the half-dazed tone of Lena’s voice and the heavier scent of blood on the air. Cautiously releasing her hold on Lena as she felt her grip tightening around her neck, Nicole punched towards the wall and changed her form at the same time.

Sinking her claws in deep, she secured herself and quickly set to work getting Lena secure in the harness for security just in case. Lena’s eyes were wide with wonder as she glanced down, her pale hands trembling above the fur on her arms as though eager and at the same time terrified to touch.

It wasn’t an unusual response but Nicole had become used to being in a place fortunate enough, unusually so, to have a large pack that was fully incorporated into the small town where everyone just knew what she was.

“Hold on to me. I won’t let you fall.”

Lena did as the red-haired beast— as Nicole— ordered and wrapped her arms around her neck where they almost vanished beneath the thicker ruff of hair but with the sheer size of Nicole, it was the only thing she could hold onto. She felt surprisingly safe and secure there, surrounded by a mountain of fur and muscle that worked and strained; punching and reaching deep into the loose earth with massive clawed hands over and over as she moved them up towards the overhang of asphalt.

Nicole’s back coiled and clenched beneath her hands and that was the only warning Lena had before Nicole snapped the rope threaded through the harness and pushed off with her legs and arms and they were suddenly flying up and out of the hole as Nicole used the raw strength in her muscles to propel them up. They soared so high that Lena almost wondered if they would just keep going, but almost before what was happening could register, the ground was beneath their feet as Nicole put her down behind an outcrop of boulders.

“Stay down and wait here,” she ordered as bullets pinged off the boulder and scorched trails across her shoulders where they were exposed by her size. Whoever these guys were, they were determined to get to Lena even though they were wounded and without a vehicle.

Lena wasn’t sure if it was the suddenly dark and dangerous look that crossed Nicole’s face that had wicked, sharp white teeth flashing in the light from the storm or the way she shrugged off the effects of a bullet grazing across her cheek like it was nothing more than a fly, but Lena almost felt sorry for the men that had kidnapped her in a way she never did when Kara was saving the day.

Kara, even when beating up the bad guys had the personality of a golden retriever. Sure, she had her dark moments, survivors of trauma usually did and there could be nothing more traumatic than seeing your world been destroyed, but most of the time she was as bright as the sun that gave her power. This Nicole, she was an unknown entity that looked the part of the monster with her big teeth and sharp claws.

Unable to switch off her curiosity, Lena ignored the throbbing pain in her leg and manoeuvred herself to where she could see around the boulders sheltering her. Where Nicole had left her was raised up from the road so she was looking down on the scene. Between flashes of lightning, she made out the muzzle flashes of three weapons and saw two of the kidnappers and a male cop who was pinned down by the exchange of shots. Of the third kidnapper, there was no sign but, as well as Nicole, there was another hulking figure; a larger than normal wolf with a coat that looked almost black in the night. It darted around on four paws, drawing attention away from the cop and the rope leading down into the hole.

Lena could only guess that it was protecting the rope that had stopped the end of the fight as, once as Nicole was there, the wolf gave an almost excited wiggle and less than a minute later, the two kidnappers were down and wearing handcuffs. But not before the wolf seemed to take great delight in sinking its teeth into the ass of one of them and yanking him across the ground by the seat of his pants as he tried to scramble away.

With the fight abruptly over, Lena sank back towards the ground, her back scraping against the boulder so sharply she could feel rough edges slicing through her expensive suit jacket to dig into her flesh. Not that it mattered, thanks to the rain, dirt and blood her clothes were probably beyond repair and Lena couldn’t work out why she was focussing on something so trivial when she had been kidnapped, ended up… somewhere and rescued by a strange wolf-beast with soft hair and kind brown eyes.

“Ahh, shock. Possible blood lose,” she mused as she blinked through the rain and looked at her leg.

“Found you, bitch!”

“Typical.” Rolling her eyes, Lena lifted her head weakly and stared into the unblinking eye of the gun pointed at her face before focussing on the man holding it. He almost comically looked like he had been dipped in tar the shade of mud, and rolled in a pile of leaves with how they were sticking out all over him. The look in his eyes was cold and murderous, his lips peeling back to reveal a sick, rictus grin as his finger tightened on the trigger.

And Lena felt nothing but a sense of resignation. It was always inevitable that one of the attempts on her life would work one day. She was just kind of sad that it was going to be at the hands of this inept idiot.

The ground shook beneath her with a soft THUD that had her heartrate kicking up in anticipation. It was different than the noise Kara’s booted feet made when she landed but it was so reminiscing that she knew, just knew what she _would_ see as she looked over his shoulder.

Lightning lit up the sky as bright as day, revealing clearly the towering figure of Nicole standing right behind him, her breath ruffling the leaves stuck in his hair. Like tiny creatures throughout time when faced with imminent demise at the jaws of a predator, his eyes rolled back in an effort to look without turning his head to face the reality of his situation. His hand trembled and shook around the gun and Lena was gratified to hear the sound of urine as it travelled down his leg to hit his boots as a huge, clawed hand wrapped around the back of his neck and completely encircled his throat.

“Drop. The. Gun.”

It was growled against _his_ ear, low and calmly threatening, but Lena felt the vibration of it shiver through her body.

The gun dropped from his limp hand and clattered to the ground. And then he was soaring out of sight so fast as Nicole tossed him towards her friends with a casual disregard that Lena was left blinking at where he had been standing.

“Thanks, Haughtstuff! Eww, gross! Dude pissed his pants!”

Rolling her eyes at Wynonna’s antics, Nicole shifted her form and secured the dropped weapon as she knelt down beside Lena. “Hey, still with me?” She looked rough and Nicole could smell the blood still flowing. “Is it okay if I touch you, I need to just take a look at your leg? Focus on me,” she ordered gently as she eased Lena’s tight skirt out of the way just enough after getting a nod from her. “I need you to try and stay awake for me, Lena.”

“Doctor as well as sheriff and… whatever you are? I hope that didn’t sound offensive, just not sure what kind of alien you could be,” she mumbled. “I’ve looked at everything the D.E.O. has got… shhh, they don’t know I did that though. Didn’t see any aliens that match what you can do.”

“Erm,” Nicole hesitated a moment as she tried to sort through everything Lena had revealed. “No doctor but I’ve had training beyond the basic stuff. Enough to know that this isn’t life-threatening but you have lost a lot of blood and are probably well on the way to going into shock. What I am is a werewolf, same as a lot around here. And, no offence taken, but I am confused that you don’t know about wolves I know a lot of them keep to themselves, but not to know them? Pretty sure there are some in Ireland too,” she mused as she finally placed the accent that had shown itself more. “Also… Aliens? And what’s a D.E.O.?”

“Werewolf? Nicole… where am I?

“Purgatory.”

“Purgatory?” She gave an inelegant short. “Of course, that makes sense then.” Though, it did seem kind of unfair that after trying her best to be a good person, she would die and end up trapped between heaven and hell. When she’d thought of putting space between herself and Kara, that wasn’t what she’d had in mind.

Tipping her head back, she felt the rain wash across her face to claim the tears on her cheeks.

And let the darkness take her away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lena Luthor in Purgatory... this could be... yeah o.O


	2. Chapter 2

## National City

Alex barely even bothered to look up at the distinct and familiar sound of her sister landing inside the DEO even though it was a heavier landing than usual and at the bottom of the steps instead of just inside of the balcony entrance how she usually would. If she kept at it, she was going to have chunks of concrete raining down on the floors below. Or bring the whole building down. But she kept that to herself too as Kara was in no mood for any kind of banter. She hadn’t been for a month since Lena had closed herself off and started ghosting them all, but this reached a whole new level of desperation.

Which was understandable. Seeing the woman she loved being kidnapped and then vanishing in thin air had to be traumatic. Not that Kara would admit to her feelings or the trauma it was causing her, and everyone at the DEO, who were having to deal with a stressed-out Kryptonian demanding answers they didn’t have.

Alex swore on every god she could think of and any she didn’t, if this was some strange scheme of Lena’s to hurt her sister, she was going to beat her up once she found her. She sighed, knowing that it wasn’t. Sure, Lena could sometimes let a petty side come out when she was hurt but that was because she didn’t know how to process things healthily and was usually restricted to cutting words and hurt looks.

Selling CatCo, yeah, that was Lena’s style, as was ghosting them. She’d tried it before when she and Supergirl had fallen out over the Kryptonite but her connection to Kara had kept her close. Faking a kidnapping that had left her driver in hospital and somehow creating the technology to make it look like she had vanished? Lena might be smart enough to carry it out, but it could have hurt a lot of innocent people on the streets and that wasn’t her style.

“Anything?”

“Not since you asked exactly forty-eight minutes ago, Supergirl.”

Fearing for Brainy’s safety, Alex placed herself between him and her sister as she stepped forward, her body almost visibly quivering with anger and anguish. He was right on both facts, Kara was impatient and nothing had changed. But, they were things Kara didn’t want to hear and while he was smart, Brainy just lacked the empathy and skills to pick up on things like that even with Nia guiding him better than all his years with the Legion had. Not that that surprised Alex either with how inept Mon-El had been when it came to being anything other than a misogynistic douche.

“We’re trying, Kara, we all are.”

“I know,” Kara sighed brokenly. “It’s just,” she flapped her arms up and down helplessly. “I can’t hear her heartbeat, Alex. Even when she wouldn’t see me, I had that but now it’s just gone and I can’t— I don’t— What if—?”

“We’ll find her, Kara. Lena’s tough, whatever she’s got caught up in she’s probably already kicking ass and getting herself out of it.”

“She shouldn’t have to though, Alex. She’s so good and kind and I wish everyone would see that and leave her alone,” Kara sighed dreamily. “Do you think she knew something was about to happen and that’s why she hasn’t been talking to me? Rao, I should have told her I was Supergirl then she wouldn’t have locked me out!”

“Why didn’t you anyway? You were all fired up to come clean to her after we dealt with Lex and the Children of Liberty and then you chickened out.”

“I didn’t chicken out! I totally chickened out,” she admitted, her whole body slumping under Alex’s steady gaze. “I just get flustered around her and scared that when I tell her she’s going to hate me and I can’t lose her Alex! I just can’t!”

“Kara, I know we— I, was firmly on the whole not telling the Luthor side of things for far too long but Lena’s showed us time and again that she cares for you and how good she is. She made you an anti-Kryptonite suit even when she was mad at you,” she pointed out, jostling her shoulder into Kara’s as the memory pulled a soft-puppy smile from her sister. “She cares for you and you need to woman up and give her a chance.”

Then maybe the dance they were doing around each other could become something else that would traumatise her, Alex realised. Was she really ready to give Kara advice on dating a girl when she was still new to it herself? Maybe she could throw Kelly to the oblivious Kryptonian?

Therapist to a Super and a Luthor… hopefully, that wouldn’t take up too much of her new girlfriend’s time. Right?

“Director! Supergirl!”

Alex winced at the volume of Brainy’s call. They were standing only five foot away from him for Christ’s sake!

“The computers have finally managed to correlate all the information from all the CCTV footage in the area to the best of their limited abilities so we might see what happened to Ms Luthor’s car in its last moments.”

Alex winced at his turn of phrase and what she hoped was an over compensation to not appear too eager that just made him look like he was just about to deliver news of a death in the family instead. Cuffing him around the head would _probably_ not be very professional but she was tempted as Kara let out a high-pitched whine.

“You okay, Kar?”

“Mhm.” Kara’s lips were as tightly pressed together as her fists as her sides as she struggled to rein in her emotions and not imagine the worst when she was already drowning in the fear that she would never hear Lena’s heartbeat again. “Could you play it for us, Brainy?”

“Of course— I mean, yes,” he added more sombrely as he finally read the dark glare Alex was shooting his way. “Hopefully this will help explain where Ms Luthor went.” He hoped so anyway, he rather liked the young woman whose mind and intelligence was almost a match for his own. More than in some ways as she had already mastered the most advanced games of skill that the thirty-first century had to offer and had beaten him several times. He wiped the back of his hand surreptitiously when she saw that his eyes had leaked over them without his notice.

It took everything within Alex to watch the pieced together footage with a cold, clinical eye as they watched as Lena’s driver was cruelly bludgeoned on the back of the head outside of L-Corp and Lena was forced into her car at gunpoint but she had to so she could do her job and act as Director of the DEO and not just Lena’s friend.

The silent footage switched cameras as it tracked the cars wild journey through the streets. Footage from their own cameras showing Kara’s progress as she had given chase the moment she had heard Lena’s heart start racing, until it all cumulated with Kara’s standoff and the sudden disappearance of the car through a swirling vortex. While they couldn’t hear the scream Kara gave, the anguish was clear on her face as she made a desperate attempt to follow.

Reaching out, Alex comforted her sister as best as she could, not caring that she was in her Supergirl outfit. Somethings were more important. It wasn’t under she felt the distressed whimper burst from Kara and felt her fingers clutch desperately as her that she realised that Brainy was zoomed in on the footage, rocking it back and forth between several frames that showed Lena’s struggle with the driver and her head rocking to the side as she was pistol-whipped.

“Brainy!”

“Just one— Aha!”

“What are you doing?!” she hissed. “We don’t need to see—”

“But we do! There, can you see?” he gestured to the screen triumphantly. “The reflection in the window!”

“A reflection?”

“Yes! Right there!” he jabbed a finger right at it again. “If my calculations are right. And they always are! Given the curvature of the glass, the location of the vehicle and… there! This should show us more!”

Giving Kara’s hand a squeeze, Alex watched the new footage that Brainy pulled up on to the screen. The angle of the camera had been wrong to catch the car but it clearly showed a woman dressed from head to toe in black. Her features were impossible to make out other than the fact that she had dark hair but what was very clear, was that she was somehow in control of the portal/vortex as it sprang to life as she lifted her hand and when she left, she vanished in a similar one.

“Who was that?”

“Unclear, Director. I will scour the footage to see if she appears anywhere else so I can try using facial recognition but, she may be from off-world or using an image inducer to hide who she is.”

“I’ll go talk to Jess,” Kara muttered more to herself than anything. “She might know if there are any specific threats to Lena above the normal.” She winced, her jaw tightening at the thought of the unreasonable amount of threats, far too many of them all too real, that her beautiful friend got all the time. If nothing else came of it, seeing Jess meant that she would be close to where Lena was last safe and okay.

“Do you think she will be okay?” Brainy asked quietly as the dust settled from Kara’s hasty departure through the balcony exit.

“When Lena is home, yeah.”

“And if we can’t find her?”

Alex looked down at Brainy, taking in his hunched shoulders as he studiously stared at the bank of screens before him. She had been so focused on Kara, it wasn’t until that moment that she realised and just how much they had all been missing Lena from their lives. “Let’s do our best to make sure that doesn’t happen, hmm?” For all of their sakes as well as Kara’s.

**********

## Purgatory

With a cheerful wave to the people manning the phones at the hospital reception desk, Waverly slipped through the swing doors that led deeper into the hospital. The moment the doors swung too, a blanket of silence settled over her that demanded a more solemn attitude of anyone walking the halls.

The doctors and nurses she passed all walked with a quieter step, their scrubs and uniforms creating a hushed whisper of sound that matched their lowered voices as they spoke to each other. Patients that dared to walk the corridors shuffled along, their robes belted tightly closed over too thin hospital gowns.

Waverly hated the place. She hated that anyone had to be there. She hated the stench of bleach and death that clawed at her too sensitive wolf senses. But she hated the memories it invoked of when she had volunteered at the hospital when she was younger as well as more recent times when people she knew and loved had been there.

She paused for a moment, her feet stilling before she even realised that she was outside of the room where Nicole had once lain after Bobo Del Rey had attacked her and almost killed her with silver. The memory stabbed at her, the helplessness she had felt as the Doctors and everyone had said there was nothing to be done for her. Even knowing that it had all worked out, that Nicole had survived; nearly destroying a good part of the hospital on her way out, it still had a bad taste clawing at the back of her throat and a mewl of fear following it.

“Hi, sweetie.”

The fear fled under the wave of warmth that blossomed through her chest as Nicole’s voice teased her ears and the sight of her greeted her eyes. Ignoring the propriety the hospital and Nicole’s uniform silently demanded, Waverly rushed the last remaining steps and slipped easily into Nicole’s open arms. Propriety be damned, this was where she belonged and she made it known as she nuzzled her nose into the sweetly scented curve of Nicole’s neck and breathed in the scent of vanilla dipped doughnuts and lavender that was their shared scent as mates.

“How’s our new guest?”

“Guest? You’ve been talking to Wynonna, huh?” Nicole smiled as Waverly’s answer came in the form of a shrug. Really, she would have been more surprised if Wynonna hadn’t said something once the inconsistencies had come to light. “She’s still sleeping.”

“Can I see her?”

Waverly tried to keep her request light but Nicole’s eyes narrowed in a way that had her shifting guiltily.

“Just what has your sister been telling you?”

“Just that the car appeared from literally nowhere. That according to everything Xavier has run, none of them even exists.” She saw Nicole’s eye roll at the mention of Black Badge getting interested. Even though they all usually ended up working together it still rubbed her Alpha the wrong way when cases were whipped out from under her jurisdiction. “And she also said that she was— Holy fudge! Wynonna was right,” Waverly breathed out as she peeked her head around the door Nicole had led her too and she got her first look at the mysterious woman. “She _is_ drop-dead gorgeous.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Objectively speaking, of course,” Waverly blustered even though she could see the smirk starting to tug at the corner of Nicole’s lips.

“Of course.” Placing her hand on the small of Waverly’s back, Nicole eased her forward into the secluded hospital room so she could close the door behind them. The doctors and nurses were unlikely to gossip, except for between themselves, but there were still patients around and they had no restraints on confidentiality and Nicole would rather keep the mystery woman just that until they’d worked out where she had come from.

“Hopefully she’ll wake up soon and be able to clear things up for us,” she whispered softly as she pulled another chair close to the one she had been using for Waverly to use. “Her credentials looked to be well made but they just make no sense.”

“You got her name though?”

“Yeah—”

“Thought you would have Googled me by now, Sheriff. Everyone else does. Ohh—”

“Easy there, take it nice and slow,” Nicole ordered as she gently supported the woman as Waverly eased another pillow behind her head. “The docs patched you up good but you lost a lot of blood and took a hefty knock on the way down.”

“That didn’t come from the crash,” Lena grimaced as her fingers came into contact with the bruising where her kidnappers had pistol-whipped her. “Can’t believe I got clocked so good I was seeing werewolves. How ridiculous is that—” her voice drifted away as she saw the look the couple was sharing. “That is ridiculous, right?”

“Ms Luthor, with all due respect, it’s more ridiculous that you don’t know about werewolves as we are very real.”

“I don’t understand?”

“Would you like to see?”

“Yes?” Lena sat up in the bed, carefully folding the covers across her lap and linked her fingers together upon them. She wasn’t sure what they had planned, but she wrapped herself in every ounce of poise available to be prepared.

“No one is going to hurt you. Waverly, would you mind, love? There’s not enough room in here and I think they might bar me from life if I do any more property damage.”

Lena looked at the other woman, Waverly, eagerly at the prospect of seeing something impossible to challenge everything she knew. The girl’s hazel eyes softened at what she must have seen on her face, all uncertainty of what the Sheriff had asked of her fading away to leave something akin to the kind of anticipation she had only seen before in Kara’s eyes.

Everything Lena knew about werewolves changing she had learned from watching movies with Kara and from books. What she had witnessed with Nicole could barely count as that had been at night and under stressful circumstances. This, as Waverly stepped back to allow herself room was nothing like she had expected.

There was no painful cracking as muscles and bones changed and stretched to accommodate a new shape.

The was no skin ripping or fluids dripping.

There was just a feeling in the air, a shift that had the hair on her body standing to attention and then the room was filled with the massive shape of a wolf whose hair and eye colour matched Waverly’s.

Despite her reservation, Lena held her hand out and marvelled at the softness of the fur covering Waverly’s massive but surprisingly pretty wolf face as it nudged under her palm. A laugh, maybe that one a little nervous and ragged around the edges, burst from her mouth as she tickled the wolf between the ears and the first thought to enter her head was that Kara would have been crooning over her and wanting to adopt her.

“You’ve really never heard of werewolves before?” Nicole asked gently as Lena buried her fingers into the soft ruff of longer coat around Waverly’s neck to Waverly’s great delight going by her thoughts and the swishing wag of her tail.

“No. Never. Well, apart from movies and literature.” Nicole’s derisive snort let her know what she thought of that. “I know what you mean, even though aliens are everywhere there are still far too many movies put out depicting them in the worst light possible.”

“Aliens?”

“Mhm. Sheriff, why did you look different than this when you were saving me last night? Know I took a knock to the head but you talked and moved around on two feet while the other one looked like— That wasn’t Waverly—” she realised. “How many werewolves are there here?”

“Lena, where are you from?”

“You really haven’t Googled me?” she countered.

“Tried,” Nicole admitted with a shrug. “Your credentials don’t come up anywhere so it was kind of a last resort but you just don’t seem to exist. So, just who are you, Lena Luthor? Where are you from?”

“National City… California,” she added at Nicole’s blank expression. “Before that, Metropolis?” Why were the cities protected by the planets two most famous aliens not garnering even a flicker of recognition? “Supergirl? Superman?”

“Hey, calm down, Lena—”

“You don’t know them?” Lena grasped at Nicole’s arm as she tried to comfort her, her fingers tangling in the fabric of her shirt. “Where am I?” she demanded.

“Purgatory, Alberta.”

Canada still didn’t account for them not knowing Supergirl or Superman when they had saved the planet numerous times.

“I need to get in touch with my assistant, Jess. She’ll be able to clear this up. I need my phone.”

“Here, borrow mine,” Nicole offered gently, unlocking her phone and handing it over. She wasn’t sure what was going on but she was regretting questioning Lena even though it was essential they find out who she was and where she was from with how she had come into their lives. Right then though, she looked on the verge of running away or screaming as she dialled a string of numbers she obviously knew off by heart. And then another number. And another. The shock growing with each one as Nicole could clearly hear the tone signal that the number was unrecognised. Fingers flying, she flicked to a web browser and tapped in searches at a rate Nicole could only dream of but each search left her looking more and more deflated and despondent.

The things she was saying were unbelievable, and yet Nicole believed her because it was so unbelievable. Her panic was too real to be faked and there was just something believable about the absurdity of her story. If she was hiding from something it would be easier to do it about things that could be proved and not a drivers licence that mentioned a name and place that didn’t exist just as her kidnappers had along with wallets holding bills with presidents that didn’t exist printed upon them.

They had either all gone to the worst counterfeiter in the world or there was more to what was going on.

Then there was the car.

An expensive make but a model that didn’t exist in any country that was now a crumpled and burned-out wreck at the bottom of the mountain. One with the edge of a licence plate still visible with _National City_ in an elegant cursive along the top.

Even if she chose to believe the obvious that it was all a ruse, it didn’t explain how the car had gotten onto the mountain road. JD and Wynonna both swore that the car had appeared from nowhere on the road. And while Wynonna could be the biggest shit-stirrer on occasion just for the sheer hell of it, she never did it with the important stuff. And a car appearing in the middle of the road right before their eyes without Wynonna not being able to sense it, that was important and had become more so when they had started firing on them for no reason.

Something was going on and until something said not to, Nicole was going to believe the victim.

Like a puppet with its strings cut, Lena sagged back against the pillows and stared blankly at the plain coloured wall of the hospital wall as Nicole’s phone dropped back to the scratchy covers on the bed.

“I don’t understand.”

“Hey, we’ll work this out.”

“I need to get out of her. Could you call for someone so I can discharge myself and settle my bill?”

“The first one I can do and I’ll even drive you out of here if the docs say you’re okay to go. As for the bill, Canada, Lena, the home of maple syrup, big ass moose, grumpy geese, an endless supply of flannel all year round and free healthcare.”

“At least that hasn’t changed,” Lena laughed wetly.

“Let me go get a doc to check you out. Waves, would you mind staying with her?”

“Of course.”

“That is remarkable,” Lena whispered in rapt attention as Waverly turned into herself before she spoke just as smoothly and with no obvious side effects. Her brain ticked over, her shock fading away under the building need to science and prod at the astonishing, enigmatic puzzle now sitting beside her bed. “Doesn’t that hurt?” she asked, sitting forward eagerly as the sheriff quietly left the room.

“Changing? No. Turning into the form you saw Nicole in used to scare me for years but that was because Willa, my oldest sister, was a shit-ticket during my first change.”

First change? Two forms? The questions swirled around Lena’s mind, stumbling over each other in their eagerness to be spoken. “I have so many questions,” she admitted.

“Are you kidding me? You know real-life aliens? I have questions too,” Waverly grinned back, scooting forward eagerly on the hard visitor's chair. “I’ll answer yours if you answer mine?”

“Deal.” Grinning, Lena shook the hand Waverly held out to seal the deal. “First—”

“Erm, maybe hold off on the questions until the doc gets done? If we start talking about aliens they might think you knocked your head harder than they thought and keep you in.”

“Good point. Oh, I just realised, I’ve got nowhere to go—”

“You let us worry about that. We would offer you a place to sleep at our house but… well… the girls are being a handful and with you not being used to werewolves it could be a shock to your system to wake up with four pups sitting on you.”

Lena held her tongue and tried to unpack the fact that not only did Waverly and Nicole have four kids but they were all werewolves too as Nicole returned with a Doctor in tow. She’d been a guest in enough hospitals to know the right things to say to assure the doctor she was fine even though there was still a part of Lena that wondered if she wasn’t really suffering from concussion and all the werewolf stuff was a symptom of that. It would frankly have made more sense.

“Well, Ms Luthor, I would prefer it if you would spend another night in just to be on the safe side but if you are determined to go—”

“I am.”

“Then as long as you take care of yourself and have someone check in on you, you should be okay to go. I’ll get the paperwork all ready and write up a prescription for some antibiotics and painkillers for your leg. You need to finish them. I mean it, no stopping because you feel okay. They’re to prevent infection.”

Lena nodded along as he spoke rather than run down the chemical composition of the medicines or rattle off another, better one L-Corp had invented to prove she knew more about them than he could ever imagine. But, in her experience, doctors tended to be hate being shown up and only reacted cordially when she was donating to the hospital or owned it. So, in the interest of getting out of there, she held her tongue and nodded in all the right places until the paperwork was all signed and she was taking a final right out of the building in a wheelchair. Which was always the most ridiculous rule she had ever heard. Surely if she was okay enough to be discharged, she was fit to walk? But, again, she held her tongue and let herself be pushed up to the waiting SUV resplendent in the livery of the Purgatory Sheriff’s Department.

Despite her feelings on the wheelchair, Lena was forced to accept Nicole’s help into the passenger seat as her leg protested the movement of standing up. She had thought that Waverly might join them but she must have come in her own vehicle as she gave Nicole a peck on the cheek that had the redheaded woman standing there with the worst case of heart eyes she had seen since the time she’d arranged for Kara’s favourite Chinese to serve her unlimited potstickers.

The look stayed even when they were on the road and Waverly’s red Jeep sped past them far too fast and Nicole whooped the sirens at her in a warning that Waverly blatantly ignored and even acknowledged with a jaunty wave. The Jeep stayed in sight, obviously slowing as Nicole didn’t put her foot down to catch up as they travelled past empty fields and rugged wilderness that barely gave way for a small town she only registered as being there by a slight increase in traffic and Nicole having to lift her hand to wave to seemingly everyone that saw her vehicle.

As the SUV bumped over the rail crossing on the edge of town Lena saw her take a deeper breath, her brown eyes narrowing slightly as she looked around before relaxing into the drive once more. She was scenting? How was that even possible through the glass?

“You and Waverly—?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re— together?

“Married. You’re not going to tell me you’ve never heard of same-sex marriages are you?”

“No! They’re allowed it’s just, well there’s enough resistance to it in big cities and this is—” She waved a hand, not wanting to offend Purgatory or the woman tasked to defend it any more. Nicole only laughed though, deep dimples popping delightfully as she smiled.

“Oh, believe me. I know the kind of places you talk about. They come in all shapes and sizes and then there’s this place. Just looking at it, it looks like it would be full of small minded bigots but it’s not. Maybe it’s because there’s a pack here that’s been integrated for years. And believe me, when winter hits, which it does for far too many months,” she shivered, “everyone is too busy doing what they need to do to survive and could give two hoots as to who is sleeping together.”

“A refreshing attitude.” Bitterness tinged Lena’s voice, she could hear it just as surely as she could hear the catcalls of peers at boarding school, as well as Lillian’s derisive comments telling her she was just acting out, and then, years later, telling her it would be a scandal too far for her _that_ to get out, and she better learn the importance of an effective NDA and a beard.

“It is, and I’m sorry you’ve ever experienced otherwise… over anything.”

Lena looked at Nicole’s profile at her turn of phrase. She was sure from her question she had guessed that she was on the spectrum somewhere but she didn’t ask and had given her an out by expending it to a blanket statement.

“Seeing as Googling me didn’t work I feel like I should tell you more about myself so you can—” she paused wondering why she was feeling the sudden self-destructive need to have the woman that had saved her life judge her as everyone else did. “My brother and mother did terrible things. Really terrible things. My brother, Lex; he tortured aliens, experimented on them and created a device that killed nearly forty people before he could be stopped. My mother, she carried on his work and planned on releasing a virus that would have killed every alien refugee living on Earth.”

Taking her hand off the steering wheel, Nicole offered it to the woman hunched around herself as she struggled with what were obviously terrible memories. “Lena, you aren’t them. It took me a long time to accept that for myself, to realise that I wasn’t my father and that I wasn’t responsible for all the terrible things he did. And it wasn’t until I came here that I found a home that didn’t judge me on the Bulshar name. I’ve only just met you but we are both more than the DNA that created us. We are more than their sins.”

“I killed a man,” Lena whispered, half expecting the hand she was clutching to be snatched away. “Two actually but if I hadn’t shot my brother he would have escaped and killed again. I regret what happened to Adam though. I was trying to cure cancer and he was a part of the human trials. I grew close to him even though I tried to keep a distance. The closer I grew, the more unacceptable the numbers became and I shut down the trial. But he was dying and desperate, and I let him talk me around to doing it anyway. Everything seemed to be going okay until it wasn’t and then all I could do was watch and hold his hand just as you’re holding mine.”

“And is this comforting you?” she gently tightened her grip and felt it returned as Lena clutched at her like she was her anchor in the storm of guilt that was flaying her alive. She gave a nod, raising stormy green eyes from their clasped hands to meet hers. “He felt the same when you held him, Lena. That matters a lot and sometimes that’s all we can do. And, you’re a scientist obviously, you learned from what happened?”

“Yes,” Lena admitted. “It eventually saved lives too.”

“I know that doesn’t ease the pain from Adam. Hurt like that can linger no matter how many you save. From a legal standpoint, as Sheriff and all, if you’re guilty of anything, it’s caring too much.”

“No one’s ever said that about me… apart from Kara,” she sighed despondently. It was crazy, sickening to think that less than a day before she had been all too eager to have space between them and now somehow she was trapped in a place... a version of Earth or a parallel universe where everything she knew, even herself, didn’t exist. It was such an overdramatic version of the space she was after it seemed almost painted with a Luthor flare that still left her wondering if she wasn’t in a coma and trapped within all the little boxes she hid things away in.

There was no Luthor’s and all the baggage that went with the name. No aliens. No National City. No Supers.

No Kara.

“She sounds like she’s special to you.”

“She is— Was,” she amended, defiantly holding on to the hurt of her betrayal of trust. “She was my best friend,” her lips twisted as she remembered how deeply she had wanted more than Kara could ever give. “I loved her more than that but she was straight and I didn’t want to be _that_ kind of person so I settled and dreamed— and then I found out she was lying to me about who she was the whole time. Kind of ironically, before I was kidnapped I was planning on moving out of town and getting some space away from everything but I never expected this.”

“Nobody expects Purgatory, Lena.”

“I bet you all love playing off that name here, huh?”

“It has its moments,” Nicole admitted with a soft chuckle. “Wynonna more than most so be on the lookout for her.”

“Is that the other one that thought I was ‘drop-dead gorgeous’? Wait she was the wolf from last night that bit that man’s ass?”

“Yep, that would be Wynonna.”

“She bit him. Does that mean he’ll—?”

“That would be an old myth and Hollywood again. Werewolves largely keep everything within their packs,” she explained. “That led to rumours of their existence in the beginning just like everything else and they clung to that for years as it kept them apart. The truth is, Werewolves aren’t mindless beasts created by a curse of the blood. We only sing to the moon when we want, and It isn’t spread along by a bite or a scratch, we’re just born as we are.”

Lena turned in her seat eager to hear more. “Could you tell me more?”

“And take away Waverly’s fun?” Nicole chuckled. “My mate— my wife— lives for her research and history so I’ll leave that to her. All you need to really know though is that you’re safe in Purgatory.”

“That is still such a strange thing to hear.”

“Yes,” Nicole laughed, “but it is true. Don’t let the name fool you, everyone here, from the Werewolves to the Yiska, the Harpies that visit on occasion, the Gnomes, the Witches, and Angels, even the non-werewolf citizens, we’re just a family.”

“I want to accuse you of just making all those things up but… you’re really not, are you?”

“Nope,” Nicole popped the ‘P’ as she swung the wheel and turned her SUV up the drive and parked up behind Waverly’s Jeep. “Would you like a drink before we head up to where you’ll be staying?”

“Have you got any whiskey?”

“On top of pain meds? I don’t think so. I have no desire to sleep on the couch or in the stable with the horses if Waverly sees me letting you get away with that. Come on, come in, have a drink of tea or coffee and meet the kids.”

“Kids?”

As if conjured by her words, the door to the pretty house opened and four children with tousled red hair that shone in the sunlight rushed outside and swarmed around Nicole’s legs in a wiggling mass of childish giggles and a jumbled rush of eager words… and lolling tongues from puppy mouths.

There was not a single doubt in Lena’s mind that Kara would have loved it there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN - After doing some of the Googling myself, I know that technically there is both a National City and a Metropolis.
> 
> But, for dramatic storytelling purposes, in the world of Purgatory, there isn't.


	3. Chapter 3

## Purgatory

It was in something like a dazed state that Lena followed Waverly’s guiding hand between her shoulder blades and moved towards the pretty blue, two-story house. Somewhere, with a part of her, that was still functioning, she heard horses whinny softly in greeting coming from out of sight from around the other side of the house.

Lena was used to the chaos of city living and being surrounded by thousands of strangers at any given moment. Even when she had rattled around the Luthor manor, she had been alone. But she had never felt so small as she did right then with the vast open land that surrounded the property; the forests and trees spread out and sprawling up to glimpses of mountains beyond… and yet… she was not alone and she hadn’t felt that way since Nicole in all her strange and amazing wolf glory had risked her life to save her from her car.

Lena had rarely felt at home anywhere since she had been taken from her home in Ireland. Most places felt cold and unwelcoming and she had come to accept that. The only exception had come when she had been welcomed into Kara’s small apartment and the disorder and chaos within of Kara’s decoration style that seemed to be more a collection of memories that had been like a blanket borne and placed around her by Kara herself.

At the time she had thought it was just Kara’s eclectic style but now knowing that she had lost her entire planet as well as her parents as she had thought, it made even more sense that she would hold on to every memory she could. Including the otherworldly paintings that she favoured. Ones that depicted planets and stars, whole landscapes and constellations that no one of Earth had ever seen from a planet that no longer existed.

But Kara had seen them.

For a moment, just a moment, Lena resented that every good memory in her life was because of Kara but she pushed it aside with all her strength and focussed on what was before her.

Lena was in a foreign place. A world that was so very like her own on the surface, but also very much removed from what she knew. Surrounded by beings that she was still coming to terms with even existing. The house, while not tiny, would easily fit into her penthouse three times over and there would still have been room. But, it was as warm and welcoming as Waverly and Nicole, and the clutter and chaos that came with four rambunctious children only added to the warmth and joy.

“Calm down girls!”

Lena had very little in the way of experience with children. The closest she had ever come of Sam’s daughter, Ruby, and as a teenager, she could barely be called a child any more. Whereas these four were young and precocious and far outside of Lena’s comfort zone but she couldn’t help but be entranced by them as even in their excitement, they listened to Nicole and calmed down… somewhat at least. Before long, they were all quietly sitting nibbling on snacks.

Apart from one, Lena realised as a plate of snacks was held out to her.

“Jasmin wants to share with you,” Waverly explained with a soft smile as she set a cup of tea on the table at Lena’s side of the couch. “If you prefer I’ll put her with the others?”

“No, that’s okay.” Taking the offered plate, Lena hesitantly steadied the toddler with a hand to her back as she wiggled and squirmed her way onto the couch with a grin and settled herself right of her lap.

“Jas, you mind Lena’s leg—”

“No, she’s okay.” And Lena was surprised to find that she was okay with the tiny, precious child settled against her. There was a warmth to her, a scent… just something about the weight of her, that seemed to settle something within Lena and had her dreaming of things she had never even thought of before. A life she had never thought could fit into her life as a Luthor with the target that was always firmly fixed on her back.

Shifting the plate, she held it where Jasmin could reach it to help herself and steadied herself by gently supporting her and stroking her as she leaned against her. It was soothing, calming, and Lena found herself almost drifting away with the soft sounds of life taking place around her as Jasmin ate contentedly with a quiet, but rough purring noises that vibrated through Lena.

**********

Nicole nuzzled her nose against Waverly’s neck as she wrapped her arms around her waist from behind. She sighed contentedly as Waverly tossed aside the towel she had been using to dry her hands and leaned into her. Her hands and fingers entwining with hers to hold her closer.

“Jas is purring for Lena.”

Waverly smiled as she felt Nicole’s lips curve against her flesh. “Our baby is smitten with her.”

“They all are,” Nicole smirked, turning Waverly with her so she could see Dom, Mel and Kat looking at the couch and edging closer inch by inch. “Give them thirty minutes tops and half a chance and they’ll all be on her.”

“I’ll rescue her before they get that far and hurt her. No offence to Lena but she doesn’t strike me as the kind to be able to deal with them but… she’d not doing too bad.”

“Purr power,” Nicole grinned. “Makes putty of even the strongest.” Proving a point, she let out a purr of her own that had Waverly going almost boneless in her arms.

“Sneaky Alpha powers.”

“Raven headed home?”

“Yep. I didn’t want to subject Lena to her brand of crazy anyway but she said babysitting had given her some ideas on how to solve the problem she was having with her latest trials. And she, if she remembers, said was going to make sure there was a place ready for Lena. Don’t worry, I already called Clarke to make sure.”

“Ugh, that woman,” Nicole rolled her eyes. “Always wanting to blow stuff up. Remind me again why we let her babysit our kids?”

“Because she would blow up anyone that tried to hurt them and because she pulls that pouty face when we don’t let her see them?”

“Which you and Wynonna taught her,” Nicole accused with a soft smile and a kiss.

“Couldn’t have been me,” Waverly teased her fingers across Nicole’s forearms as she spoke, drawing the fine hair there up along with a shiver. “If Raven had learned from me you wouldn’t be able to resist her at all.”

“True,” Nicole admitted with a ready grin. Not in the least bit ashamed of the power that Waverly held over her.

“Where do you think she’s from?”

Nicole shrugged. “I’m hoping that Jeremy will be able to come up with something. I believe her though. If I didn’t I wouldn’t have brought her here.”

“I wouldn’t have let you either. I like her. How much are you okay with telling her though, about, you know?”

Nicole breathed in deeply. “Anything she wants to know,” she finally breathed out. “From what little she’s said I get the feeling she hates to be lied to. Family, that family, is not something I like to think about but I don’t want my baggage about Bulshar getting in the way of anything.”

“You really need to let go of that baggage, Nicole. You saved us from him.”

“Definitely a team effort,” Nicole smiled softly, nudging her nose into Waverly’s. “Believe me, I’ve let it go… mostly,” she amended as Waverly’s brow quirked upwards. “But anyone outside of Purgatory that known of the cult is less forgiving and it’s going to be a hell of a thing for Lena to hear just as I’m sure some of the things we learn from where she’s from will be to us.”

“Hmm, right. I mean, aliens?”

“Don’t forget all the things we’ve met that we thought were impossible and we now call family.”

“True,” Waverly relented with a light shrug. She herself was a werewolf, with part witch and part angel in her genes. Who was she to say that aliens didn’t exist somewhere?

**********

Lena moaned softly, fighting for once in her life against the gentle lure of a soft voice calling her name. She was so warm and toasty, her body weighed down by a softly snoring blanket.

“Huh?”

Cracking open her eyes, she looked down at the sea of tousled red hair and blearily realised that she had somehow fallen asleep under an almost literal puppy pile. A fluffy ginger cat stared down at her imperiously from the back out the couch she was curled up on while a miniature Australian Shepherd watched from the floor with his head tilted.

“Well, there you are.”

Blinking up, Lena found Waverly smiling down at her.

“Hold on and I’ll help dig you out from under the girls. Nicole is just getting everything ready so if you want to grab another drink of something to eat before we go?”

“I wouldn’t mind the chance to freshen up. I can still smell the hospital on me.”

“Of course!” Waverly gently plucked the girls off Lena and made space for her to get up. “Usually takes them a little while to accept anyone outside of the pack but they sure took to you fast.”

“I’ve never really had much to do with children outside of visiting the children’s hospitals I fund,” Lena admitted even as her hand seemed to find Jas’ head of its own volition and her fingers stroked through soft curls. “Even then they are usually nervous when they find out my name.”

“Hmm. Wolves, especially young ones, go on more than just names, Lena. They are taught young to trust their own senses as well as ours. And they know we would never let anyone in who would hurt them.

“And I never would,” Lena stated firmly. It felt as though she was making a solemn vow to protect them, her words holding a weight that felt like a cog had turned as she had spoken. And she meant every word.

Feeling somewhat in a daze, she followed Waverly to the small downstairs bathroom. Turning on the taps she washed her face, removing the last remnants of the clinical scent from the hospital as well at the makeup she had been wearing before she was kidnapped. With it finally gone, she felt freer, lighter even though her heart inexplicably ached at the sight of a family of yellow plastic ducks all neatly lined along with other toys on the edge of the bathtub.

It was there, even in that, the desire to have Kara there to experience everything that place offered. There was not one single shred of doubt in her mind that Kara would be in her element there. Probably rolling along the floor with the adorable babies or floating them over the furniture. In her mind though, the tousled red heads were suddenly replaced by ones of blonde and black to match hers and Kara’s.

An impossible pipe dream even if Kara wasn’t somewhere she wasn’t. She loved Kara, more than friends should and she felt sure she always would. That was why her betrayal of trust had hurt so much. It had broken Lena’s heart, made her question everything she had thought she had known about their friendship. But, Lena couldn’t stop loving her.

“Are you okay, Lena?”

“I— yes, I’ll be right out!” Lena tried to inject something, anything into her voice that wouldn’t give away her anguish as she washed away the freshly fallen tears staining her cheeks. But Waverly was waiting right outside the bathroom, a look of understanding on her face.

“I know we barely know each other yet but, would it be okay if I gave you a hug?”

With a soft sob, Lena did what she had only ever done before with Kara and fell into Waverly’s waiting arms. She had been brought up to stand on her own two feet and left touch starved for years until Kara had beaten down her walls and shown her what she had been missing. It was different with Waverly, there was no secret yearning burning within Lena for her, but she found comfort there within the surprising strength of her slender frame.

“We’ll work it out, Lena.”

“You can’t know that,” she hiccupped.

“No. But I know the people around me and we won’t give in. We’ve fought witches, cults, wendigo’s, vampires, wannabe gods and taken on angels. This is a walk in a park,” she smiled softly as she wiped the tears from Lena’s cheeks.

“I really keep expecting you all to say you’re punking me when you say things like that.”

“Nope. Just a normal day in Purgatory… well, maybe a little longer than a day,” she winked. “Even we need to sleep sometime.”

“Seems only fair. So, vampires? Do they sparkle?”

“Eww, no. And don’t mention that book, it will only offend Kate.”

“Book as in singular? No movies?”

“Erm, the vampire community kind of got offended at the whole sparkly thing and bit her. Kind of an overreaction if you ask me but at least she got to be one of the sex pink fog vampires from Europe and not the kind we got here. That dude was ugly.”

“I still feel like I’m being punked a little. There are two kinds of vampires?”

“Probably more but Kate won’t talk about them.”

“And Kate is—?”

“A vampire, yes. One of the sexy pink fog ones. She’s trying to be a reformed character though. Jeremy and Rosita have been working on a blood substitute for her and got it to where she only needs human blood occasionally and she’ll only drink from blood drawn from a donor.”

“This is—”

“Too much?”

“A lot to take in but so fascinating too.”

“And I haven’t got to the good stuff like mermaid poltergeist either yet.”

“That one Waverly is kidding about. There is no such thing as mermaid poltergeists.”

“That we know of yet,” Waverly countered as she preceded them into the living room to round the girls up.

“Fine, no mermaid poltergeists that we know of… yet.”

“I felt that eye roll from here, Alpha!”

“You can’t prove anything.”

Lena stifled a giggle as Waverly swung back into view with a mock glower that made Nicole rear back guiltily and a boop to the tip of her nose that left Nicole grinning so widely her dimples popped as Waverly marched off again to gather their family together. All apart from one, Lena realised as a soft tug came to the ragged hemline on her skirt and she looked down to find Jas looking up at her expectantly.

“Jas—”

“It’s okay.” Surprising even herself, Lena bent down and lifted the toddler up into her arms.

“You are a minx young lady,” Nicole gently admonished her daughter who simply grinned triumphantly and buried her fingers in Lena’s ponytail. “If she gets too much, just let me know. You’re supposed to be recovering.”

“I don’t mind one bit,” Lena crooned softly, nuzzling her nose against the little girl as she had seen Waverly and Nicole do. “Suddenly I’m craving doughnuts?”

“Yeah, that’s kind of our scent,” Nicole blushed. “All wolves have one. My scent is vanilla, Waverly is lavender and when we became a couple it merged. The girls carry our sent to some degree and always will but if… when they choose a partner, it will take on their scent too.” There was more to it than that, so much more, but as Waverly had already hit Lena with a lot, Nicole thought it best to leave out the whole soulmates element of things that also helped merge and pass on scents unless it came up. Even if Waverly’s dad hadn’t been different than Wynonna’s, their scents wouldn’t have been the same as Michelle and Ward hadn’t been mates as finding your true mate was difficult even if there was one out there.

“Have you seen— Ahh, there you are, Jas!”

“Looks like we’ll be bringing her up with us, Waves,” Nicole smiled as Jas hid her face beneath Lena’s hair. “Meet you up there?”

“Yeah, eventually,” Waverly sighed.

“What was that for?” Lena questioned curiously as Waverly stomped away.

“Well,” Nicole chuckled, “you saw Waverly’s usual idea of speed. Our girls have a different idea of what is acceptable. They like it when I put my foot down but if Waverly tries they somehow know what the speed limit should be and create holy hell if she tries to go over it. She’s a perfectly fine driver even though she hasn’t met a speed limit she hasn’t tried to break but they won’t let her get away with it.”

Lena felt sure Nicole had to be kidding about that as Jas squealed happily in the booster seat in the back of Nicole’s SUV. And then they passed Waverly on the road at a point where the speed limit went up and she heard Dom, Kat and Mel give her hell over trying to speed up too soon.

“Wow!”

“Yep.”

“So, this place you’re taking me too?” as she spoke, Lena reached for the grab handle to counteract the roughness of the road.

“Don’t worry, it exists, I’m not taking you into the woods to kill you.”

“I wasn’t even thinking about that… until you said that!”

“Sorry,” Nicole chuckled. “Really it’s the best place. Put it this way, the motel in Purgatory once had the dubious reputation of being known as The Bates Motel and Murder Motel depending on if people were being nice or not.”

“Which was the nice version?”

“Ya know,” Nicole tapped her chin in thought. “I’m not entirely sure. The village though, it’s nice there, Waves and I have got a home up there with them. I— They’re pretty secretive so I’d prefer to let Alexandria and Clarke speak for their people. As a heads up though, they’re mostly Yiska; skinwalkers. They can change their shape similar to werewolves, in fact, our bloodline crosses but they have more forms. Alexandria is a bear for example but there are also panthers, cougars and others. Unlike wolves, they can talk in their animal form and their beast is the size of their wild versions.”

“You said mostly Yiska. Do you mind if I ask—”

“Alexandria’s wife, Clarke and some of the others there are Nymphs. Clarke and Aden, their son are wood nymphs. They can see through the trees and protect it. The Pine Barrens here,” she waved a hand to encompasses the lush, towering trees now on either side of the vehicle, “these are their home but they let us run here and accept us as family.”

Lena wasn’t sure what to expect of the village or the people that Nicole spoke of so fondly but as the SUV finally came into sight of the homes there she knew she could not have done it justice. If the finest architects in the world had gotten together and tried to create a place that blended in with the forest and yet remained functional they would have come woefully short of what was there.

It was bustling and yet not at all crowded and, despite the number of guards she saw walking around and more still slipping in and out of the trees, she felt no threat from them… and neither did the children that ran amongst them.

“Nicole—”

“Alexandria is kind of high up with her people… like very high up… leader of all of them really,” she amended. “Doesn’t stop her from personally kicking my ass in the name of training every chance she gets,” she muttered under her breath as the door to their house opened and Alexandria and Clarke walked out.

“Aunty Al! Aunty Klork!”

Lena watched intently as Nicole parked up and let Jas out of the back seat. Like a rocket, the toddler was off with her sights firmly fixed upon the couple who scooped her up into their arms.

“Hi there, sweetie. Cole and Madi should be up soon. Do you want to go wake them up and have a snack?”

“Mhm.”

“Gustus!”

Lena’s eyes widened as a wide mountain of a man with a shaggy beard lumbered out of the house. He was an intimidating sight that didn’t seem to deter Jas one little bit as, as soon as her feet were on the ground she walked towards him.

“Take out little Jas to see Cole and Madi.”

“Come.”

“Gus Gus! Up!”

The mountain of a man looked down at the tiny child that didn’t even come up to his knees and watched as he rolled his eyes skyward fondly as she stood there looking up at him. He looked around, obviously knowing he wasn’t going to get any help and then he bent and wrapped his huge hands around her waist and lifted her with gentle care.

A gentleness that Jas didn’t return as she gleefully buried her hands in his bushy beard and pulled.

“Our daughters have a dislike of facial hair,” Nicole smirked as Gus winced.

“Your daughters are all little beasts,” he grumbled fondly.

“You could just remove the temptation and shave it off Gustus,” Alexandria pointed out.

“I have forgotten what my chin looks like and I am not sure I want to be reacquainted with it after all these years.” With a quick bow to them all, he left while he still had a beard to hide behind.

“Alexandria, Clarke, this is Lena.”

Lena went to great them the same almost formal way that Nicole had so that her hand grasped their forearms but while Alexandria gave a smile that was warm but came more from her eyes that her mouth, Clarke pulled her into a much warmer and far less formal embrace.

“My wife is the more formal and stuffy one,” she teased her wife. “They posture so prettily,” she whispered conspiratively, nodding to how they were almost mimicking how the other was standing as they talked together in hushed tones, “but just that Nicole has asked if you can stay here tells me a lot already.”

“It does?”

“You may not have seen it because she took to you so quickly but that isn’t usually her way. Above everything she protects the family she has found and you seem to have made it onto that list.”

“I— I’m not sure how.”

“Wolves, this one anyway, they just know. She helped us when we returned to the Barrens even though we had not the best of introductions,” she grimaced at the thought of how Aden’s misunderstanding could have cost them dearly and how understanding Nicole had been, “and all because it was the right thing to do. Nicole… where are Waverly and the girls?”

“Jas wanted to stick with Lena,” Nicole grinned, “Waverly should be along soon with the others.”

“Ahh, say no more. Lena, would it be okay if I check your wounds before they arrive. My methods might seem a little outdated but I know treatments that are far more effective than anything modern medicine knows of or has to offer.”

“She really has,” Nicole assured her.

“While we’re at it I can set you up with some more suitable clothing.”

**********

“You seem troubled, my friend.”

“Concerned,” Nicole finally admitted.

“You think she is up to no good?”

“If I’d thought that, I would not have taken her to my home let alone brought her up here, Alexandria. You know that.”

“I do. I’m just trying to work out what is going on it that head of yours.”

Nicole looked at the ground and then up at the treetops as she ordered her thoughts of what she knew and what she felt instinctively, before turning her attention back to her patiently waiting friend. “I think she’s a good person that doesn’t seem to believe it of herself. The same as I always feared for myself. I don’t know why she feels like that but I know the fear. As soon as she’s settled and Waves and the girls are here I’m heading back to the station to have a word with the kidnappers. See what they have to say.”

“We will all take care of her, Nicole.”

“I’m sure you’ll have plenty of help. Kind of surprised that Wynonna hasn’t made an appearance yet, or at the very least Jeremy. A woman appearing from nowhere like that seems right up his ally.”

“Indeed it does,” Alexandria laughed. “My guess is that Wynonna is probably terrorizing the guests at the station. At least, that was what she said she was going to do the two times she called to tell both Clarke and myself all about your drop-dead gorgeous friend.”

“Lord, you wouldn’t know that woman already had two mates,” Nicole groaned and shook her head as she pinched the bridge of her nose. They all knew that Wynonna was just being Wynonna but sometimes she liked to tease and push at the wrong moments and Lena wasn’t used to her ways. Sometimes, even the people that had known Wynonna her whole life weren’t used to her ways. “I’d tell her to tone it down when I see her but she probably won’t listen.”

“Oh, please don’t,” Lena smirked as both Nicole and Alexandria jumped at little. It was somehow gratifying to have been able to sneak up on them. “I can handle myself and I kind of like the idea of flustering your friend.”

“Go easy on her then,” Nicole chuckled. “Oh, and whatever you do, don’t let her try to con you into drinking with her,” she warned.

“Why is that?”

“Werewolves are resistant to alcohol,” Alexandria explained. “Nicole here more so that any of them,” she patted Nicole’s shoulder as her lips compressed together.

“My father— Bulshar. He believed in gaining resistance to poisons through exposure. It would take a lot to even get me tipsy anyway, I mean probably ten bottles would barely touch my kind of resistance and that includes just about anything else that could poison me. First time exposure is hell but after that I’m good.”

“Your father used to poison you!?”

“Yeah, he was a piece of work. Clean bill of health from Clarke?”

“Yes,” Lena smiled as the blonde-haired Nymph emerged from the house and returned to Alexandria’s side. “Clarke was good enough to give me some ointment and it already feels much better.”

“It should heal well now as long as she doesn’t stress it out too much. Which means no heels for at least a week.”

Lena looked down at feet that felt like they were drowning in surprisingly comfortable hiking boots after the confinement of her heels. Definitely, not her usual style but they went well with the rest of her outfit and helped her feel like she was fitting in. And they really were comfortable. Walking on a cloud level of comfort.

“Lena,” touching her elbow, Nicole felt her body start a little beneath her hand. “Waverly and the kids are here, would you like to see where you’ll be staying?”

“Hmm,” blinking, Lena looked around and realised that, sure enough, Waverly had finally arrived with the girls. “Nicole, did I zone out a bit then?”

“You were maybe staring at your toes for a little while then,” Nicole smiled. “Come on, you should probably get settled and rest your leg some more.”

With Nicole’s hand a gentle presence at her elbow, Lena walked with her and the others. Heads lifted in interest at the sight of her but there were none of the angry looks she was used to keeping a wary eye open for as no one there even knew who she was which was still a strange thing.

“Here we go.”

Lena looked up as Nicole pushed open the door she hadn’t even realised she was standing before. With how the village looked like it had been born of the forest, it shouldn’t have surprised her how that the door looked the same with its worn timber stained and worn smooth by the touch of many hands. It opened smoothly and released a scent that carried the earthy tones of the forest without being too heavy or remotely musty. The interior was a mixture of old and new that reminded Lena of Kara’s apartment only with more wood that was softened by cushions and a surprising amount of furs that covered the bed she caught a glimpse of through a door.

“Don’t worry, nothing new gave their coat for anything,” Nicole chuckled as she saw Lena’s eye widen. “Most of them are ancient. Pretty sure that one I saw in the village was a mammoth fur. And, with Waves’ influence, all the new ‘furs’ are fake. She hasn’t been able to get Wynonna to give up her leather jackets yet though.”

“I’ll get her one day.”

“Waves, your sister wore her leather jacket in Brazil. On the beach. You’re amazing but Wynonna would travel to hell and bitch-slap Satan if he touched her jacket.”

“Nicole, language.”

“Sorry. You know I’m right though.”

“Not going to stop me from trying,” Waverly grinned. “But, enough about my sister, let’s get you settled, Lena. Your head must be spinning with everything going on.”

“Maybe a little bit,” Lena admitted as she pulled out a chair at the small dining table and sat with a weary sigh. “I don’t think the meds from the hospital are helping either.”

“Do you want to take a nap? Our house here is right next door—”

“I just don’t want to be alone right now. I feel like if I am and I close my eyes I might end up slipping out of existence.”

“Okay. How about this then? If the noise won’t bother you, Waverly can stay right here with you and the kids while you just rest on the couch. I’ve got to head back to the station and check on things. Soon as you’re ready, you can ask any of us anything you want.”

“Anything?”

“Yep. Doesn’t mean we’ll always have the answers as there are stories that are not our own but we’ll answer what we can.”

“Okay,” leaning forward, the wooden chair giving the smallest of creaks in the quietness of the room, Lena gestured for Nicole to move closer. “Just how do two female werewolves have babies?”

“Ask Waverly!”

Waverly let out a bark of laughter as Nicole’s face went a red as bright as her hair and made a sudden rush for the door.

“Was it something I said?”

“Somehow, Lena Luthor, I think you are going to fit in just fine here. Heaven help Purgatory when you and Wynonna get together though.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN - Quite a bit of background info in this chapter but, to spare Nicole's blushes.
> 
> In this AU, I wanted Nicole and Waverly to have babies but I felt under-qualified to do justice to either G!P ABO story or handle anything to do with fertility treatments and things like that. And then I remembered, I was writing a story with werewolves! Nicole is from an old werewolf bloodline where the alpha females had the ability to get a omega female pregnant during their heat and rut. She hasn't got a penis but during a rut she can ejaculate/squirt and by the miracle of storytelling and sexy gymnastics, BABIES ;)
> 
> Pregnancies are shorter than a normal human and there is no risk to the babies if the mom changes at any point.
> 
> Another AN - Comment moderation is on on all my SC fics right now basically because the crazies seem to be out and about on Twitter. One who I ran into earlier that seemed to think all fic writers should not write for non-canon ships and should give rep to canon ones only. They also said that all published books were really fan fiction so that was why we should be writing canon... to be honest, that part lost me cause surely officially published books have guidelines to follow on what can be in them and that would mean it's not even fan fiction. Also FF is not allowed to be published to be sold cause of copyright laws and all SC fans are evil because we harass the actors -_- . Anyway, I don't want to talk about that any more and I was just worried the crazy might spread so mod is on for now so no ones gets bothered.


	4. Chapter 4

## National City

“Where is she?!”

Despite her best efforts to maintain her usual cool, dignified demeanour, Lillian startled, her cuffed hands clattering against the bolted-down table she’d been seated at as Kara Danvers, _Supergirl_ herself, burst through the doors with a harried, violent, expression on her usually sunny face. She looked so unusually violent that Lillian actually feared for herself for the first time in her presence as she looked into her eyes as they looked closer as the Kryptonian invaded her space and she saw the flicker of her heat-vision coming to life.

“Where is whom, Supergirl? I know quite a few people in my life that fall under that label.”

Lillian instantly regretted her confrontational stance as Kara’s eyes glowed even brighter and fists that could easily crush anything the Earth had to offer sped forward faster than her eye could follow and curled into the front of her ill-fitting prison-issued tunic shirt. She heard the cheap fabric strain and threads pop as she was yanked up out of the chair. The cuffs around her wrists bit into her flesh as the too-short chain between them pulled her up short and the bolts holding the table creaked and groaned in protest at the strain put upon them.

A burly guard burst into the door, his voice rising high in shock as he tugged on Supergirl’s arm and found the strength he used against the inmates at the prison to mean absolutely nothing against her.

“Where. Is. She?!”

“Who?!”

Growling in frustration, Kara grabbed the guard hanging off her arm and sped him out of the door. Slamming the door shut in his startled face, she twisted the handle, breaking the mechanism and jamming the door shut. She turned slowly, fixing her gaze upon Lillian once more as the elder woman eyed her warily while she rubbed at her wrists.

“Lena. Tell me where she is.”

“Lena?” Lillian flattened her hands against the table in an effort to ground herself as Supergirl’s words echoed around and around inside her head. “Lena is… missing?”

“Don’t pretend—”

“My daughter is missing!?”

Kara blinked, her body pulling up short at the unrestrained emotions on Lillian’s face as she lurched out of her seat and strained across the table towards her. The woman had been arrested, she’d threatened her and countless others. Everything she did was done with a cool precision and a look on her face that was dismissive of everyone around her. But this, this was new. There was concern, fear and anger all locked within her expression and it was all because the daughter she had tormented since the day Lena had come into her life and home was missing.

“What happened? Tell me! Please?” she begged, actually begged of the alien.

Kara stared at her, watching her every micro-expression as she fished her phone out of her boot. A voice screamed at her not to trust the Luthor matriarch that sounded suspiciously like Alex… and would have undoubtedly been Alex if Kara hadn’t removed her comms from her ear and stuffed it in her boot before she’d left the DEO.

The only typical Lillian expression that crossed her face came as she saw the picture of herself that Lena that was visible as she unlocked the phone. Usually, she was careful about keeping Supergirl and Kara things separate but since Lena had vanished, Kara had felt the need to keep her close and had slipped a couple of pictures onto her phone so she could look at them. If anyone asked she could claim that she was friends with them both but as Lillian looked at it and cocked a judgemental eyebrow up in a way that served to remind Kara of Lena, Kara just found herself blushing furiously.

“I really cannot fathom how more people haven’t worked out your secret yet.” Before the alien started blustering, Lillian waved her hand as dismissively as she could with it chained to the table. “Show me what happened to my daughter.”

Angling the phone into position, Kara held it steady and pressed play. She didn’t watch it herself. She didn’t need to as every second of the video was ingrained into her memory, layered over the top of events as she had seen them for herself.

“Who is that woman?”

“We haven’t been able to find out anything about her or anyone with abilities like that. She’s turned up several times since but she’s gone before even I can get there.”

“There’s something you’re not saying.”

Kara stared a hole through Lena’s mother, luckily for Lillian it was only a figurative one as her accusation had Kara’s senses going into overdrive wondering how she could possibly know.

“There is always something else, Supergirl. Now, what is it you don’t want to tell me?”

“The driver’s body turned up. Burnt almost to the point where it was difficult to find viable DNA to identify him.”

“And?”

“In his hands were parts of a steering wheel identified as being from a Bentley.”

Lillian’s eyes flew back to the video and the clear image of Lena’s easily identifiable car. Her mind, usually so precise and focussed buzzed with white noise at the implication of Supergirl’s words. Where there was one body, there could be more.

“So you decided to come here and attack me instead?”

“To be fair,” Kara crossed her arms, suddenly feeling more defensively than she would like to admit under the weight of Lillian Luthor’s gaze, “most of the kidnappings and attempts on Lena’s life have come from you or Lex.”

“Lena and I have reached an understanding. A bond forged in pursuit of the same goal as it were.”

“Keeping you alive when Lex wanted you dead?”

“That was a happy coincidence. I have grown to love my daughter and the woman she has become, Supergirl. I know I have a lot to make amends for.” She pursed her lips and chose to ignore the inelegant snort that burst from the Kryptonian in judgement. “She is all I have left of my family. Lionel died. Lex wants me dead. And then there’s Lena. She distrusts me and with good reason, I know that. But, she has more than enough reason to hate me and yet, she doesn’t. And now _you’ve_ lost her!”

Kara took an involuntary step back at the volume with which the accusation exploded from Lillian Luthor.

“I—”

“How about, instead of wrongly accusing me, you get out there and find my daughter! Go on! Up, up and away, Supergirl!”

On any other day, Kara would have fought back in some way but her own guilt at not being able to find her friend weighed so heavily that Kara simply left the prison without another word to Lillian Luthor or the guard she had manhandled.

Alex was waiting for her with hands firmly planted on her hips when Kara made it back to the DEO. Instead of dressing her down in front of everyone, Alex took her by the elbow and led her away from the main control room to an empty conference room where it was quiet.

“Do you feel better for threatening Lillian Luthor? And don’t even dare deny going there, I had the warden shouting at me on the phone within minutes of you getting there and locking yourself in with Lillian.”

“I had to know, Alex.”

“And did you find out anything useful?”

“Only that Lilian had nothing to do with what happened to Lena.”

“She said that huh? And how do you know she isn’t just lying to you? Lillian Luthor hates aliens, especially you and Superman. And her relationship has never been good with Lena. What makes you think she would tell you the truth about something that could keep her locked up even more?”

“I could see it in her eyes, Alex. She was scared _for_ Lena.”

“You’re basing your trust for her on a look?”

“Not quite. I also bugged her to be sure.”

“You what!? No,” grabbing Kara again, Alex pushed her back into the darkest corner of the room. She wasn’t sure if she was angry or impressed by what Kara had done and she told her so in no uncertain terms. “Are you crazy!? You can’t do that,” she hissed. “Have you any idea how much trouble we could get into if she finds that? Her lawyers will be over it in a flash trying to use it to get her out!”

“I had to, Alex. Unless Brainy has found anything in the past couple of hours, we’ve got nothing to go on. We haven’t been a couple of steps behind that woman in the tape, we’ve been here twiddling our thumbs and sitting on our asses. She appears and is gone before we can do anything, Alex! Nia’s tried dreaming about Lena to see if she could work out where she was but she said it’s as though Lena isn’t here anymore! I can see it in her eyes what she’s trying not to say and I’m terrified that means she might mean she’s dead. I can’t lose her, Alex! I just can’t!”

Alex sighed, her chin dropping to her chest as Kara stormed out of the conference room and flew right back out through the balcony entrance with little care for the papers she was scattering in her wake. She was worried for her little sister. Scared even, with how poorly Kara was taking the absence of Lena.

With all the losses Kara had endured in her life, losing people was her biggest fear no matter how hard she tried to hide it behind her usual sunny disposition. It was why she always fought so hard; because she couldn’t lose. If it cost her own life she would give it willingly as long as that meant the people she loved and the planet she called home endured. She was taking it so much harder with Lena though and Alex wasn’t sure if that was because Lena vanishing had happened right before her eyes just as Krypton had, or if it was because she had never gotten the chance to admit to Lena the depths of her feelings she still hadn’t quite admitted to herself.

Kelly kept telling Alex to let her work it out on her own. But once her girlfriend had pointed out all the signs she had missed happening right in front of her. All the lip bites, the lingering looks, long lunches, and every other meal Kara had managed to fabricate to spend butting in on Lena’s very busy schedule. It all just made Alex want to give them a wakeup slap around the backs of their heads or just flat out lock them up together in a small room. And with the facilities available to her as Director of the DEO, she could do it!

But then Lena had started to distance herself from Kara and the rest of them. The endless reserves of time she’d had available for Kara dwindling away until it reached the point where Alex couldn’t remember the last time she had seen Lena outside of an emergency. Had something been going on with her that they hadn’t known? Something that Lena couldn’t tell them about?

“Where are you, Lena?”

## Purgatory

Smiling softly, Lena burrowed down deeper into the luxuriant, vegan-friendly, faux-fur covers on her bed. She had spent her life surrounded by silence. The quiet places of her youth coming from the solitude of the vast coldness of the walls that made up the Luthor mansion and the even taller walls that prevented her from getting to know her mother. In school, the silence had come once more from location and from no one wanting to get near enough to touch a Luthor with a ten-foot pole let alone close enough to talk or become friends.

Moving to Metropolis after she had left school had been an assault to sense dulled by musty walls and vast empty rooms she could rattle between unnoticed for days. Despite the hustle and bustle of life around her, Lena had never felt more alone than she did there where it was so loud and impersonal. And that was before Lex went on his crusade of insanity.

When she had moved to National City, Lena had welcomed the best silence and solitude that money could buy. She had been done. Done with trying to reach out and make friends. Done with trying to impress her family.

And just when she had been done and all her pain and fear had been shoved deep into little boxes and locked away… that was when all the walls and boxes had been knocked aside by a blonde reporter with a sunny smile and a passion for truth and all things food.

But that was then.

Despite everything, she missed Kara. But she had found a home there in Purgatory. A place that had welcomed her with open arms and without question.

Rolling over, adjusting the covers around her body, Lena listened to the hustle and bustle of life waking up in the village drifting in through her window along with the early morning light. The high-pitched, joyous giggles from next-door let her know that the girls were awake and no doubt plotting some kind of wonderful mischief.

Knowing what kind of mischief that could involve if they followed their usual path, Lena reluctantly left the warmth of her bed and got ready. She timed it perfectly. A quick shower and barely enough time to do her hair and put on the coffee machine before opening her door to find Jasmin beaming up at her with a Tupperware container or whatever Nicole or Waverly had fixed for them to share together.

Leaning out of the doorway, she gave a quick wave to Waverly who was keeping an eye on their daughter before she closed the door and sat down for breakfast with her. It was a routine they had fallen into in the weeks since her arrival once it became obvious that Jasmin wouldn’t be denied… especially not once she realised she was welcome. Nicole always made Jasmin ask the night before though and made it clear that if Lena wanted a break all she had to do was say.

“Good morning, Jasmin.”

“Mornin’, mama Lena.”

Lena grinned as Jasmin giggled shyly and wrapped her arms around Lena’s neck. “What are we having for breakfast this morning, sweetpea?” Adjusting her hold on her precious cargo, Lena opened up the container to release the sweet scent of freshly cooked pancakes. “Mmm, pancakes.”

“Booberry and chocolate.”

“Together?”

“Naw. That would be silly.”

“My friend, Kara would say it was being smart and saving time. Of course, she would also crinkle her nose just as much as you at the thought of blueberries.” She tickled Jasmin’s sides, finding the perfect sweet spot that had the toddler laughing. “Syrup or cream with yours today?”

“Hmm. Save time? Have both?”

The eager, hopeful expression on Jas’ face had Lena bursting into laughter. “You little minx.”

“Does that mean yes?”

Lena breathed in the scent and feel of her as she pressed a kiss to Jasmin’s head. “Yes, that means yes.” Putting her feet to the floor, Lena watched fondly as Jasmin bypassed the kitchen table and climbed up onto the couch. She looked back at her expectantly, her eyes were bright and wide as she wiggled excitedly and licked her lips as Lena filled plates for them both and cut Jasmin’s portion up just the way she liked.

Lena had never equated herself with children. As a child, she had not played with Barbies or dolls. Mother had never approved with her playing with anything other than a chess set. And once she had grown up and reached an age when everyone around her seemed to be fawning over children and the thought of having them, Lena was plagued by memories of her own childhood. That wasn’t to say she didn’t care for them. She just had no experience and could not see herself making room in her busy schedule between meetings and assassination attempts to give a child a decent life.

And then she had met Nicole and Waverly’s children.

There had been next to no wariness with them. No judgement in their eyes that Lena was used to seeing as they seemed to pick up on their parents' feelings about her. Waverly had assured her several times that they could tell she was a good person. Lena wondered how they could possibly know something like that when she still had moments of doubt that she tried to drown in work, good deeds, and alcohol.

With them though, Lena felt more than ever like she could be good for them. Especially Jasmin. Reaching down, she combed her fingers through Jas’ mop of red hair as the little girl leaned into her touch and her side more.

All of the children were adorable and friendly, even Wynonna’s who were as wild as the Alpha leader herself. But, they all deferred to Jasmin’s apparent claim on ‘mama Lena’, especially at bedtime and breakfast or they would have all been sitting on her couch given half a chance.

As it always seemed to at those moments, Lena found her mind wandering into a fantasy world of ‘what if?’ A world where she and Kara were a couple and they were blessed with children of their own. Lena felt it was a cruel journey for her mind to take when there was a chasm of secrets between them and somehow they weren’t even on the same Earth any more.

Maybe she really was dead and this was the mythical Purgatory made a reality? No, she refused to believe that even hell could be so cruel as to use such angels against her.

“I can hear you overthinking something from here, Lena. You done eating, munchkin?”

Lena grinned as Jas whined and huddled closer as she threw pleading puppy eyes at Nicole making it clear that she wanted to stay. She soon relented though, lingering long enough to press a sticky kiss to Lena’s cheek before flying across the room and into Nicole’s arms.

Lena waited until Jasmin had pottered off to go join her siblings before rising from the couch to clear away the plates. She gave Nicole an appraising glance, not that she hadn’t already, but this one was blatant to let Nicole know she was looking at her clothing.

“You’re going back out to my car?” It was more statement wrapped up in a question as Nicole took it as such, as she smiled softly and glanced down at clothing. There was little different in what she was wearing from her usual uniform but Lena knew fashion and could see the differences that made what she had on more comfortable and hardwearing enough to survive any climbing she might have to do.

“Yep. His body has been gone too long now but I want to take one more sniff around before they get the wreck out of there.”

“You still don’t think animals took his body?”

“No.” Animals would have taken bits of him and any big enough to drag a grown man away would not have been able to get him clear in one piece with how his body was trapped. There would have been a mess and there wasn’t one. Nicole knew that Lena knew that but yet she still went through the same questions almost as though wanting someone to turn on her and say she was lying about how she had gotten there.

“I’m coming with you.”

“Lena, it’s an official crime scene—”

“Only until you remove the car. I won’t touch anything, Nicole. Please?” She gave her new friend her best impression of puppy eyes and hoped that somewhere, Kara could sense it and would be proud of her efforts. “I just need to see it.”

Nicole looked to the floor and then the ceiling, anything to avoid the begging look been levelled her way while she tried to think. Lena had wanted to see where the accident had happened almost from day one. She wasn’t entirely sure it was a good idea to revisit something like that but… “Fine,” she relented. “But, no touching and you stay behind the tape with Jeremy,” she warned. “Got it?”

“Jeremy’s going to be there?”

“Yeah, apparently he’s got a new scanner or some kind of gizmo he wants to try out.”

Lena leaned closer eagerly. “A new scanner! What does it do?”

“Lena, that’s Black Badge shit. As long as it doesn’t blow up, it is strictly need to know and above my paygrade.” After all the years, Nicole was giving up hope that that stance would change but apparently even Jeannie hadn’t been able to get the ones in charge to back off. Apparently, they hadn’t liked how ‘easily’ they had managed to take down Moody and his operation as well as Bulshar at the same time.

Officially, BBD got all the juicy, weird cases while PSD took the normal stuff. Unofficially, they all got together around Waverly’s ever-increasing supply of absolutely-not-murder-boards and ate pizza while working through whatever was affecting Purgatory. When it came to Jeremy and Rosita’s experiments though, Nicole was all too glad at the disconnect between the departments. That way, BBD were the offices that regularly got glitter bombed when something invariably went wrong.

“How long do you need to get ready?”

“Forty-five minutes.”

“You’ve got thirty.”

“Forty.”

“Twenty-five. And no heels, Luthor. I’m not carrying you if you twist your ankle.”

“Are you being mean to my wife?”

“She’s not your wife, Earp,” Nicole rolled her eyes as the Alpha threw a heavy arm over her shoulder. “Did you steal my pancakes again?” She glared at her suspiciously bulging cheeks.

“The chocolate ones?”

“No, the blueberry ones.”

Wynonna made a show of sucking on her teeth thoughtfully. “Blueberry, huh? In that case… yep, totally ate those bad boys as well as the rest of the bacon. Hold on,” Wynonna shot Nicole a narrow-eyed glare, “was that the fake shit again?”

“Yep. The kids sucked all the real bacon down before you got here and you know I only do meat when I’m in rut. I— erm— it’s a nutritional thing,” she blushingly explained at Lena’s eyes lit up with curiosity at another glimpse into her nature. “Anyway, twenty minutes, Lena.”

“You said twenty-five minutes!” Lena shouted out to Nicole’s rapidly retreating back.

Wynonna snorted and waved a dismissive hand. “No worries, Lee. As soon as Haughty gets in Waverly’s orbit, they’ll get all kissy-kissy in that gross way they always do and she’ll forget all about the time. So, where is Haughtsauce dragging my wife to anyway?”

Lena rolled her eyes fondly at the ridiculous woman whose arm was now draped over her shoulder. Not long after officially meeting her, she had realised that Wynonna Earp liked to act more like a teenager acting out that the grown woman she was. She liked to get a reaction from people. It didn’t seem to matter if it was good or bad, she just liked a reaction to get a better feel and measure of their true nature. With Nicole it was bad plays on her name, stealing her food and generally tormenting the ‘softer’ alpha to get a reaction. When the chips were down though, Lena had seen the fierce way they protected each other.

With her, for some reason, Wynonna had decided that light flirting was the way to go and once Lena had responded in kind and made Wynonna blush for a good fifteen minutes, it had become their thing and had settled into Wynonna referring to her as her wife just to see what their reactions were.

It was a strange way to go about things but it seemed to work for Wynonna.

Nicole was more a walls up kind of person but it was done in such a way that made her feel more open until you saw the true strength of a genuine smile and saw the way she was around Waverly and her children.

Waverly was similar to Nicole. But, instead of her walls dropping to reveal a brighter smile, hers dropped to reveal one that was more genuine but dimmer; less bright and falsely cheery.

“We’re heading up to where my car crashed.”

“Why in the hell would you want to do that, Lena?”

This was the true face of Wynonna. Softer, caring. Her blue eyes searching hers almost tenderly as though she was looking for the truth. It was a disconcerting gift that threatened to crack asunder Lena’s carefully constructed walls and expose her.

“I just need to.”

“I’ve seen it. It’s not pretty, Lena. I only saw it happen from a distance and it gave me chills to think what could have happened if Nicole hadn’t been there to pull you out in time.”

“I’ll be fine, I’ve crawled out of worse,” she waved a careless hand dismissively.

“I’m sure you have. And that sucks that you try to pass that off as normal. If you have to go… celebrate the fact that you’re still alive and don’t think about the ‘what ifs’ like you usually do,” she pointed out gently as Lena’s face fell in shock.

“How do you do that? How do you know that’s what I do?” Lena narrowed her eyes as the other woman somehow managed to work out undoubtedly what she would have done.

“Just part of being an amazing wife. And you’re very talkative under the influence of red wine,” Wynonna grinned and kissed Lena on the temple as she let out a _tsk_ at her.

“That was because you neglected to inform me that it was cannabis-infused wine, Wynonna,” Lena huffed at Wynonna’s playful tone even as her eyes remained caring and vigilant… just like Kara’s.

“Hey, at least you did better than Haught on the cannabis-infused whiskey,” Wynonna chortled. “One sip of that and she face planted on the floor. Of course, I did the same not long after but I outlasted her. Can’t get away with that now that,” Wynonna sighed, “Waverly would skin me alive.”

Lena grinned at that knowing it was true. From what they had willingly divulged and from the books she had absorbed, she had learned that Werewolves were, on the surface, very like their wild counterparts with a pack structure and hierarchy.

In nature the alphas were the biggest and strongest, the ones in charge whilst the omegas in a pack were the lowest of the low, the ones the others turned on and beat up on just because they were having a bad day.

For werewolves, the omegas were still considered less but they were more sought after because they were fertile. Apparently, Wynonna, an alpha, giving birth was as rare as Nicole being able to sire children. Lena still wasn’t quite sure why as every time she had asked Nicole blushed and Wynonna seemed to pop out of nowhere just to say it was all Nicole’s fault and Waverly had to break them up.

And boy, could she break them up. Wynonna and Nicole might be alphas, pack leader and sheriff respectively, but they, and everyone else in the pack, jumped at a word from Waverly because of their love and respect for the little spitfire. It went beyond them too as the whole pack treated everyone equally no matter if they were alpha or omega and frankly that was better than most people Lena had grown up with treated each other.

“Are you coming with us then? Make sure I don’t get all maudlin?”

“Looking for a dead body, yayy,” Wynonna drawled dryly. “Of course I’m coming!” she chirped out brightly, making Lena startle slightly at the sudden change in tone. “Gotta make sure my wife is okay.”

“All that wife crap is going to have people talking.”

“Let them,” Wynonna shrugged. “I’ve already got two mates. I’m used to the gossip. If it bothers you though, I’ll stop,” she assured her respectfully.

“I kind of like the thought of having a wife.” Lena looked her up and down slowly. Appraisingly. “Do you think Valdez would like the position?” She laughed at the mock expression of hurt on Wynonna’s face and left her standing there while she quickly used up the short amount of time left to get ready.

Lena was used to leaving her home, hotel, or generally anywhere, looking nothing less than pristine. The only time a Luthor woman were allowed to look anything less, according to Lillian, was if a bomb had gone off near them. And even then, they were expected to fix themselves as soon as possible even if they were in a coma. It had been ingrained into Lena’s psyche to the point it was a part of her life but… as she left her home in the village that morning, it wasn’t the first time she’d left looking slightly rumpled and less than immaculate. And Lena didn’t care one tiny bit as she used the time she had shaved off getting ready to kiss and hug Jasmin and all the others and promise to see them before bed, before climbing into Nicole’s SUV, relegating Wynonna to the back seat crammed in between the two baby seats that were still in there.

**********

As the miles passed beneath the wheels of her SUV, the quieter and stiller Lena grew beside her. Nicole shared a glance with Wynonna and saw that she had noticed too and was leaning closer to quietly lend her support.

Reaching a crossing, Nicole checked the road to make sure they had time and turned to face her more fully. Crystal green lifted to hers, the haze caused by memories lifting as the light hit the different colours within them and she focussed her attention on them questioningly.

“Do you need to see where it happened first or where the car ended up?”

Lena followed the subtle gesture of Nicole’s chin indicating the different paths on the road. Left or right. “I don’t want to get in the way of your investigation—”

Nicole waved a hand dismissively. “You won’t. And I don’t care if it did. This is about what’s right for you, Lena. What will help you?”

Lena wasn’t sure if anything would really. Did she want to see where she had appeared that night, the place where her life had diverted from its expected path or did she want to see where she had come close to ending up?

“I’m a scientist, Nicole. I think I need to see it in order.”

“Okay then.” With a smooth turn of the wheel, Nicole turned the car to the left past the road closed signs. “If you change your mind you let us know, okay?”

Nodding, Lena focussed her attention on the landscape passing by beyond the protective shell of the vehicle as Nicole smoothly navigated the steady incline of the road as it cut a path through the rough landscape built up of towering trees and jagged rocks. The trees thinned out the higher they climbed, the rocky wall on one side and the drop off beyond the frankly pathetic looking barrier on the other growing sharper and more intimidating.

“We’re just getting to where your car appeared out of nowhere,” Wynonna pointed out softly. “Scared poor JD half to death.”

“He was probably startled by Wynonna screaming,” Nicole teased.

“Haught-ass.”

“That’s sheriff Haught-ass when I’m in uniform, Earp.”

Lena allowed their gentle bickering to keep her from plunging into the darkness of her memories as what had happened that night played over in her mind, overlapping reality with darkness and fear.

“What do you remember?”

“Kara,” Lena shook her head slightly, trying to focus on the steady brown of Nicole’s eyes and her voice instead of the blue of Kara’s and the echo of a distant scream that seemed to follow her memories. “There was a flash of light and then we were here.”

“There was no flash from this side,” Wynonna filled in even though they all knew. “I was talking with JD and then suddenly there was headlights and the sound of the engine. We tried to flag the car down but the assholes started firing on us.”

“I think I was still in a daze from them hitting me. I saw everything but it all felt distant. Muffled. Especially when I saw you fly over the car and then give chase.” Her eyes drifted to the steep walls of rock at the side of the road they had come so close to and found the gouges and tracks of paint left upon a tree.

“Chasing cars. Such a cliché dog move, Haught.”

Nicole ignored Wynonna and pulled the car up well away from the hole left in the road. She could see Lena’s eyes making their way up the road and could almost hear her brain ticking over as her eyes followed the damage left upon the tarmac by the Bentley’s slide and tumble across it.

Lena left the SUV as soon as it came to a halt, leaving Wynonna huffing and cursing as she struggled out over the baby seats. Nicole never said anything but she felt more than heard her fall into step just behind her right shoulder and Wynonna taking up position on her left as they neared the hole nature in all her fury had ripped out of the road. She edged closer, her eyes easily finding where the car had slid over. She wanted to look how close she had come to death this time. And yet, at the same time, she was scared to.

“Can you help me look?”

“Close doesn’t matter, Lena. You made it out remember,” Wynonna reminded her.

“I know. I still want to look though.”

“Good thing I came prepared then.”

Lena glanced at Nicole, a question on the tip of her tongue that was answered by the sight of her holding up a bag that she guessed held some of the climbing gear she had used when rescuing her.

“So help me, Earp, that smirk on your face better not be because you’ve been messing with my gear or I will make you eat it.” Thankfully, she hadn’t, and Nicole soon had a climbing harness ready for Lena to put on.

“Do you need any help, Lena?”

“I would be happy to show you my skills with a harness, Wynonna.”

Nicole smothered a smirk and a chuckle as she radioed down to let everyone at the base know they might be dislodging debris at the sight of Wynonna’s face going an impressive shade of red. It was nice to see her on the receiving end for a change and Lena was more than a match for Wynonna’s brand of teasing. It also served to keep Lena’s mind there and present instead of drifting into the past where her thoughts could twist it into knots with what-ifs.

“Okay,” Nicole carefully checked the ropes and harness one last time, and tapped on the top of the clunky helmet as Lena reluctantly fastened the chinstrap. “Just keep your feet to the wall and use them to steady yourself and walk down just how I showed you while I lower you. If you need me to stop or pull you back up, just call up. I won’t let you fall. Okay?”

Lena was not a fan of anything she couldn’t control. She especially hated flying and, despite living in a penthouse on the top floor and working in one of the tallest buildings on National City, heights of any kind were something she coped with by sheer willpower some days. Flying with Supergirl, wrapped up in Kara’s arms had for the most part been done in an emergency, life or death, situation but Lena had felt calm and safe within her arms despite the control not been hers.

She had felt that same calmness with Nicole even when the weather and bullets had been crashing down around them. There was just a calm strength to her that said she was safe. As she dangled back over the hole and watched the wall of mud and rocks passing before her eyes, Lena felt less sure for a moment until she remembered that Nicole was the one lowering her and that Wynonna was there too. Not that she wanted to think about it but, she just knew within her heart that if something happened to that rope, they would still catch her and keep her safe.

That trust gave her the freedom to look around. Her eyes seeking out the tell-tale signs of where the car had come to rest on its miraculous, unstable perch and the holes in the dirt left by Nicole’s fists and feet as she had used them to claw her way around even though she didn’t know what, if anything, lay below her. And, looking down, all Lena could see was a whole lot of nothing that seemed to go on forever before it reached the tops of trees that looked like toys.

“Fuck.” Just a matter of inches either side and her body would have been a mangled mess at the bottom of a mountain. She wasn’t sure if she’d actually spoke out loud or if Wynonna tapped into her mood again, but the next thing she saw was Wynonna’s face peering down at her from where she must have been lying on the edge of the hole, looking down at her.

“You didn’t go either side though, Lena. You didn’t fall. You didn’t die. You landed just where you needed to in the perfect place for the one person in this backwater corner of Canada that could, was waiting ready to catch you. And I for one am really glad about that… wife,” she winked down at Lena and preened in satisfaction as a tooth smile came as her reward. “Now, are you ready to come back up?”

Lena wasn’t sure exactly what she had been looking for when she had asked them to let her see where she had almost died but in Nicole’s sure hold and Wynonna’s words, she found hope and a salve for a soul that had been wounded for most of her life.

“Yes, I’m ready.”

“You heard my wife! Heave-ho, Haughty!”

**********

Nicole was glad to get her SUV turned around and heading back down even though she knew what lay ahead. She could see the same emotions flitting across Lena’s face to tighten the sharp line of her jaw and turned her already pale skin almost translucent when she got her first glimpse of the scene.

“Fuck.”

“Yep.” Nicole had to admit, ‘fuck’ was an apt response to the sight of the burnt-out husk of the Bentley sticking up like a twisted gravestone from a pile of boulders, mud and tarmac that were far from where they should have been.

“Looks like Jeremy brought his boyfriend with him.”

There were more people there than was necessary. Probably more than had been to the crash site since that first day and the fact that most of those people were Black Badge was not lost to Nicole.

With a quick nod of her head to JD and Liu, Nicole parked up her SUV next to their cruiser. Wynonna was the first one out, her body almost tumbling to the ground in her haste to get to Doc and Xavier. And, knowing Wynonna, to try and get a few teasing jabs in at Jeremy just to try and make him nervous.

With Robin there, she would be less successful as Robin acted on Jeremy as Waverly did her and gave him an anchor to centre himself to and a purpose. It wouldn’t stop Wynonna from trying though.

“You okay?”

“I— Yeah. In a strange way, it helps that it looks more like something Hollywood would put together for a movie or an artists installation piece if that makes any sense?”

“It does look like it’s too grand a gesture.”

“Are we safe from falling debris here?”

“Yep. Well, as safe as we were before the road gave way.” She smirked as Lena’s hand fumbled for the door handle a little. “Seriously though, it’s safe,” Nicole assured her as she stepped out. “Most of this is from the ground giving way beneath the road. It all slid and ended up here and the car… that got pulled further away by the weather and the angle of its fall so it’s actually further away from where all this came from than it looks. We’re no more at risk than any other day so the same rules apply, look and listen for things moving… rocks turned over, trees uprooted, skittering’s of dirt and pebbles are usually the first hint that things are moving.”

“That’s why we’re here to look for that while you all do your thing. Morning sheriff, Ms Luthor.”

“Please, it’s Lena, JD.” He gave a bright smile at that like he always did and she just knew that, like her assistant, Jess, he would be back to Ms Luthor in no time just so she would have to insist otherwise. Lena had worked hard to claw her way out from under the shadow of the Luthor name and drag it out with her into the light where people might judge it on her deeds and not those of Lex or Lillian. There were still few that didn’t say it with fear or distrust if not outright loathing but there, the Luthor name meant nothing to anyone apart from her.

In fact, the only time people spoken her name in anything close to anger was when Wynonna found out that not all nerds were as bad at pool and card games like Jeremy apparently was a little too late to save her wallet taking a hit.

“Anything new to report?”

“Nope, same as always, sheriff.”

Lena’s senses started ringing like warning bells in her head. She picked apart the few words exchanged. So innocuous and yet… “What’s happened? Apart from the obvious,” she waved a hand toward the grotesquely twisted remains of the car.

Nicole tucked her thumbs into her utility belt, occupying them unconsciously as she rocked back and forth from her heels to the balls of her feet. “There are no animals and that is never a good sign.”

“But, you said that there’s no body so there’s no reason for any animals to be around, right?”

“It still smells of death, Lena. That and just there being something new in their territory should bring the bravest forward but…” pausing, Nicole lifted her head and scented all around. “Even the birds are avoiding flying directly over.”

Even though she knew she could only dream of being able to see and sense even a fraction of what Nicole and the other wolves could, Lena looked up but there were only clear skies above them. Until she saw it for herself as a small bird on a direct path from one perch to another, veered off and skirted around the edge of something they couldn’t see before getting back on track and continuing on its original flight path.

“What in the world can do that?”

“That’s what I’m hoping this will tell us. Hi Lena, Nicole.”

“Good morning, Jeremy, Robin.” Lena found herself responding to the couple with a smile as she always did. They were just so sweet around each other and comfortable with their sexuality that she had to fight the urge to go ‘Awww’ when she spent any time around them.

Leaving Nicole and Robin to talk trees, Lena leaned over to study the boxy looking device Jeremy was holding and fiddling with. He was smart, a genius. As well as being one, Lena had met a few in her time and knew all the varieties and Jeremy firmly fell into the goofy, nerdish, category. The kind of genius that knew what he was but was also so very unsure at times. While she was the kind of scientist that would create a zombie virus because she wanted to, for good reasons of course. Jeremy would do it trying to invent the ultimate glitter bomb or the cure for the common cold.

Her fingers itch along with her mind with the desire to take Jeremy’s device into her own hands so she can take it apart and study it for herself so she can glean its purpose. Jeremy guards it like it’s his baby though and Lena isn’t as grabby as Brainy was the time he plucked the device holding the suit that saved Supergirl from Kryptonite poisoning from her hands.

“Damn it, this wire keeps burning out,” Jeremy sighed in frustration. “And like an idiot, I didn’t think to bring anything like that with me.”

“May I take a look?”

“Of course.” Grinning wildly, Jeremy followed Lena back to where the vehicles were parked and handed over what he’d hoped was going to be a working scanner. Within moments, he was left wide-eyed with wonder as Lena gently, reverently, but with a little too much glee, had it stripped down to its basic parts on the hood on Nicole’s SUV.

“Hmm, I think I can see what will help. Is it okay if I—?” she gestured to the cluster of wires and circuit boards.

“Go ahead.”

“There,” she flipped a switch. “It still needs some better wire to take the load though,” she sighed regretfully.

“Yeah, where are we going to get anything like that out— Oh—” He looked at Lena and saw the light of realisation click in her eyes as they both looked at the vehicle they were using as a workstation.

It was a terrible idea! The worst idea _ever_! One that was likely to get them both killed! But they were scientists!!

**********

“Are you by any chance getting anything new from the area, Nicole?”

“Naw.” Nicole straightened back up from where she had been looking into the vehicle through what was barely even recognisable as the drivers' side window anymore and moved around to the next vantage point with Doc at her side. He moved lightly and quietly with an ever-present, devil-may-care attitude and a devilish glint in his blue eyes that hid the gentleness of his soul. “I just can’t get a scent outside of the vehicle. Inside… it’s hard to tell with all the fire damage but there is a foreign scent.”

“Not unexpected as they are from a place foreign to our own even if it looks the same.”

“Exactly.”

“Any ideas yet on what happened to the steering wheel?” Reaching through the window, Doc ran a gloved finger over the gaps, checking for any tool marks even though he knew Nicole would have had it checked already. He just needed to feel for himself.

“The final report from forensics came in yesterday and they are just as stumped as Jeremy was. It’s as though those segments were never there in the first place.”

“Manufactures error?”

“It’s a Bentley, Doc… No, things like that don’t happen there. No one pays the kind of money one of these beasts costs for something unfinished,” Nicole finished at his confused expression. Seriously, he really needed to keep up with things, maybe then he would not be so lost when it came to his phone and why the tape player in his car wasn’t the height of new-fangled technology like he seemed to think it was.

“Hmm, then, this is indeed a puzzle.” Drawing his arm back, he cautiously sniffed the tips of his fingers. Trapped beneath the layers of smoke and metal and the latex of his glove, he caught the lightest hint of a scent that was sweet and pungent like ozone and yet… different. It would be interesting to know if the same scent lingered upon the road where the apparently once expensive vehicle had appeared?

“What in the world are they up to?”

Lifting his head, Doc took in the strange sight of Jeremy and Lena rushing around from the open door of Nicole’s vehicle like thieves in the night and back to the front to work on something that appeared to be little more than scrap. Jeremy looked their way with an excited but guilty expression on his face that was compounded as he screamed and ducked behind Lena when he realised that Nicole’s attention was on him.

“I do believe that that little display from Jeremy means that they are up to no good.”

“Looks that—”

“There, all fixed!” Lena held Jeremy’s scanner up triumphantly and pressed it into his shaking hands.

“What are you two up to?”

“Jeremy is just about to show us what his scanner can do.”

“Jeremy here looks like he is about to piss his pants,” Doc commented dryly, giving Nicole a nudge with his elbow as their young friend continued to use the lady as a shield rather than meet Nicole’s eye.

“Doc!” Lena admonished him.

“My sincere apologies for my crude language, Ms Luthor.” Giving a half bow, he tipped the brim of his hat at her.

“Apology accepted, Mr Holliday,” Lena inclined her head graciously. “Just don’t fucking do it again.” She grinned as Doc’s veil of old-timey charm slipped and he let out a rich bark of laughter that startled Jeremy anew.

Nicole tried to move to take a look in her SUV to see what they had been up to but Lena snagged her elbow and steered her away with practised ease and didn’t let her go until they were all standing around the crumpled remains of the Bentley. Then it was her turn to support Lena for a moment as the closeness to what had come so close to where she had died seemed to hit her.

“I’ve still got you, Lena.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

The echo of Kara’s voice uttering the same words brought tears to Lena’s eyes and the edge of a sob clawing at her throat. She bit it all down and drew strength from the strange group of friends that had rallied around her without question and watched as Jeremy, buoyed by Robin crossing his fingers in support, turned on his scanner.

The results were underwhelming… which was good as the alternative could have been an explosion and fire if the wiring pilfered from Nicole’s SUV had failed. But Jeremy’s narrow shoulders slumped slightly until the box in his hands beeped to let him know it was alive.

“Okay! We’re getting something!”

“What?”

“Wow! This is amazing!”

“Jeremy!”

“I mean, I had a theory—”

“Jeremy,” Robin gently placed his hands on his boyfriend’s shoulders and stilled his restless pacing, grounding him in the moment with him. “Stop. Stop. Stop. Breathe. Breathe. Use your words, Jer. Tell us what’s going on.”

“First of all,” Jeremy smiled fondly in gratitude. “You are amazing on my own personal meditation app.”

“You can double-tap me any time.”

“Ah, maybe later,” Jeremy smiled and kissed him softly as Wynonna made a gagging noise somewhere behind them. “Thanks, Jett. I needed that. Needed you.”

“No problem. It’s kind of in my best interests to keep you safe from whatever Wynonna is about to threaten you with and you need to be calm to do that, so…”

“Okay, okay. Okay, so… this bad boy here is able to scan on different frequencies, ones that not even your senses can touch to search for anomalies.”

Intrigued, Lena stepped closer. “What kind of anomalies?”

“The kind that brought you here, Lena. If I’m right, and I think I am…” he turned the scanner toward the car and turned a dial, increasing the range and power. The whole car lit up in a shimmer of sparkles that trailed into the air like a 3D rendering of old TV static. “Lena, would you mind?” He waved his hand, indicating what he wanted from her.

Lena moved her hand in front of the device along with Jeremy’s, showing the shimmer of static clinging to her but not him. “Remarkable! So this is either from my world or maybe because of whatever that portal was that brought us here?”

“Maybe a combination of both,” Jeremy mused as he touched her hand, watching the way the invisible particles clung to his hand before returning to hers. “We already know from your description that you are from a different version on this Earth. One that somehow got aliens but not Werewolves or anything paranormal. What I think is that your Earth and ours are just two of many.”

“You mean—”

“The multiverse theory!”

Nicole had no idea what that was, but Jeremy and Lena both looked disturbingly excited about it. “Multiverse theory?”

“Yes! It’s— okay, the idea is that there are an endless amount of realities, parallel universes, in one the Nazi’s won, in another the dinosaurs were never wiped out, in another the only difference could be what we ate for breakfast. We can’t see each other. Can’t interact… usually.” As he spoke he waved the scanner around, highlighting the shimmer around the vehicle once more.

“Somehow Lena was transported from her Earth to ours through the multiverse. It’s a theory that’s been speculated on for years but of course, there’s no way to prove it as… as no one knows how to create a breach let along control one as it was all just a theory. I am so sorry, Lena.”

“What?” Wynonna looked between them, trying to work out how in the hell they had gone from excited to despondent so quickly.

“Even if we can work out how to create a breach,” Lena sighed. “Ours are just two Earths amongst an infinite number. Finding the right one so I can return to mine is all but impossible.”

“All but is _not_ impossible,” Wynonna gently reminded her. “Between your two big brains, you’ll probably sort it out in no time. And even if you can’t, you’ve always got a home here. You know that, right?”

She did. And she was more than grateful. In many ways, their Earth was more home to her than her own had ever been but it was lacking the one thing that drew her heart back… Kara.

“Jeremy, is your gizmo picking up which way our crispy gunman went?”

“Earp!”

“What? I can call him roasted or barbequed if you want but the question is still the same.”

“There are no traces past the car, Wynonna. The particles obviously linger, not sure if that is indefinitely or not. Let me try increasing the range on the scanner without blowing it. If that happens we’ll need more than wiring from— Erm—”

“Wiring from where, Jeremy?” Nicole narrowed her eyes at him as his suddenly flew wide and his mouth slammed shut so fast she was pretty sure he’d chipped a couple of teeth when he realised what he was about to admit to. “What did you do to my car, Jeremy?”

“Nothing! I did nothing!”

Nicole didn’t need to follow his guilty glance or hear the soft mutter of ‘traitor’ to know he was looking at Lena but before she could turn to look, Jeremy’s scanner released a pulse of energy that spread out around them. With a startled cry he turned it off but the pulse continued outwards in a wave that brought into view not only the shimmering particles that clung to everything that had come from Lena’s world but also what looked like a ghostly afterimage of a floating disk that cut through the front of the car.

“That’s smaller but it looks a lot like the portal that brought us here,” Lena whispered.

Nicole crouched down and looked inside the car. “It cuts right through where the steering wheel is missing.” Whatever it was, it had taken the body with it. Which brought up all-new terrifying questions as to if it was deliberate? Where it had taken his body? If it had taken him because he was dead?

“Guys, there’s more!”

Nicole stood back up and followed the path of Jeremy’s frantically pointing finger. The wave from his scanner was fading into the distance, losing energy as it spread out. But before it faded completely, it showed at least five more portals and that was just in that area.

“Is there anyone else wondering if they were taking or bringing people in?” Robin asked quietly as he looked around them.

“Nope, you’re not the only one,” Nicole assured him. “Jer, how long to knock up some more of these… preferably without stripping the wiring out of my vehicles?”

“Two to three days per unit once we get the parts we need.”

“Do what you can, Jer. We need to know where they are and if there’s anyone missing from the area or anyone out there wondering just where they are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ## 


	5. Chapter 5

## National City

Kara Danvers was a mess.

Anyone that knew her could see it.

She struggled to get through her day job as a reporter without drawing attention to the fact that she had barely written a word or submitted an interview or pitched an idea for a story since Lena had vanished. Even their new boss, Andrea Rojas had taken notice when Kara had snapped at CatCo’s newest reporter, William Dey, after he had questioned the whereabouts of Lena and dared to suggest it was all a Luthor plot of some kind.

And really, how dare he or anyone else doubt her after all the times Lena had selflessly saved National City and the whole planet!? He was just lucky Nia had stopped her from grabbing him dropping him off on the nearest cargo ship bound for the UK or yeeting him into the sun!

That had been then, just days after Lena Luthor had vanished off the face of the earth.

The Kara that was left nearly a month later was ruthless and relentless in dealing with any criminal that got in the way of searching for her friend. Any that came up as a possible lead to her whereabouts or the mysterious woman that had stolen her away bore witness to a fury that made Red-K Supergirl seem like a puppy.

That was when she got to them before Lillian Luthor did.

Proving herself to be as slippery as her son, Lillian hadn’t even let a night pass before she was gone, leaving behind the tracker Kara had put on her and a note saying she would be in touch once _she_ had found her daughter.

Between her and Lillian, the criminals of National City and beyond were on the run.

Kara knew she was driving herself beyond the point of exhaustion in her efforts. Never resting. Always searching. She couldn’t remember when she had eaten last or if it had tasted like anything other than sadness and anguish when she had. Her usually lively blue eyes were hollow and sunken into darkened sockets and red from lack of sleep and tears. Her hair was as limp as the rest of her as she floated high above the city on her lonely vigil.

Far below her feet, Kara heard the wail of sirens and grew angry. How was she supposed to listen for Lena’s heartbeat with all that noise and all the pointless distractions!?

Like an avenging angel, she shot down from above and planted her feet clean through the engine of the car been pursued by the wailing police cars. The car buckled around her, its tyres bursting as the engine pancaked and became one with the road. Money rained down from above as the armed bank robbers flew through the windscreen, their bags of stolen good splitting and spilling against the glass as Kara caught them before they could fly too far.

Kara bent and twisted their weapons right in front of their wide, fearful eyes and bound them with lengths of rebar from a nearby construction site, sealing them in tight with blasts of her heat vision and left them to the mercy of the police before she took to the sky once more.

And all before the first officer could alight from their vehicle and see the damage wrought by the furious Supergirl. They looked up to where Supergirl hovered high above them. Caught on a stiff breeze, her cape snapped sharply around her body as though driven by the ire that seemed to be a part of their hero lately. Just as the dark expression on her face that rivalled the storm clouds rolling in over the city.

**********

## Purgatory

Looking up from the detection device she was tinkering around with, Lena peered out of the windscreen at the ominous clouds building up to turn the sky from day to a threatening shade of steely grey.

“Looks like we’re in for a storm.”

“I have it under good authority that it will pass over quickly.”

“Good auth—? Waverly?” Lena guessed when she saw the soft look on Nicole’s face. Her guess was confirmed by the wild popping of dimples and a rich laugh from her friend and current partner on their hunting excursion. It made her ache a little for the few times she had been allowed to go on a mission with Kara but she pushed it side and packed it away in a box to unpack later along with everything else that seemed to remind her of Kara.

She was trying to be healthier with her coping mechanisms but some days were easier than others and some were just too busy to wallow so she reverted to her little boxes.

“Anything on the doohickey yet?” Nicole tapped the edge of the box in an effort to distract Lena from her thoughts.

Slapping reproachfully at Nicole’s wandering hands, Lena resisted the urge to shake the annoyingly silent device or pull it apart. “Not yet.”

“Hmm. Maybe it’s broken?”

“It is _not_ broken… I don’t think so anyway,” Lena huffed. Several generations in and they still hadn’t found a way to get any kind of display to work for more than a couple of minutes after it was turned on. It was one of the sacrifices they’d had to make to increase the distance it could scan but that, along with messing with the ranges it could scan, meant that they couldn’t even test it by seeing if it could detect her any more so the only way to know if it was working… was if it worked.

Given a bit longer, Lena was sure she could get it fixed but things were happening around Purgatory that meant she didn’t have the time. Thankfully, no one had been reported as missing, but things were definitely being sent or pulled through as several things from National City had turned up around the area.

“Maybe we should head back—?”

“Hey, we only just got going.” Nicole smiled gently. “One thing I know with Jeremy, his failures usually come with a lot more glitter so I’m not ready to give up yet. Though, if it looks like that is about to go critical and spew glitter, for the love of god, toss it outside. That shit is worse than sand for getting everywhere.”

“Oh, I’m sensing a story in that statement.”

“Nothing I care to blush over while on duty.” Nicole grinned back.

Lena chuckled at the tell-tale flush of redness already showing at the tips of Nicole’s ears. Ears that later that night would be growing and becoming soft of fluffy along with the rest of the packs.

“Are you sure it’s okay for tonight?”

“We wouldn’t have asked if we weren’t. Jas is especially looking forward to showing off her full moon form for her mama Lena.”

“I’m looking forward to it too. Not sure why I have to be naked though.”

“What? You—? What? Naked—?” Nicole quickly adjusted her grip on the wheel and straightened her vehicle as it threatened to twitch off the road before turning her eyes to Lena. “Wynonna?”

“Wynonna,” Lena confirmed. “That sneaky alpha.”

“Got to admire her persistence when it comes to being a sneaky shit. Just to confirm, there will be nudity but you don’t have to see a thing and you don’t have to be naked in solidarity. But, if you want to streak around that is up to you. Wolves are all pretty comfortable about being in our own skin in all its forms.”

“A healthy attitude. If it was warmer I would be tempted to adopt that attitude just to shut Wynonna up but, alas, I haven’t got the stamina of the average Canadian when it comes to the cold let alone a werewolf.”

“You and Wynonna are as bad as each other.” Nicole shook her head fondly.

“It’s nice to have someone to tease and banter with and know there’s nothing there.”

“Nothing there as long as Wynonna doesn’t make the mistake of calling you her wife in front of Jasmin again. Didn’t think we were going to get her to let go of Wynonna’s leg that last time.” Reaching over, Nicole gently elbowed Lena for her far too pleased grin at the memory. Not that Nicole could blame her. “Don’t tell Waverly I said this but, if I’d known it was an effective method for shutting Wynonna up, I might have been tempted to sic the kids on her sooner. Though, chewing on Wynonna’s tough hide probably wouldn’t be good for their teeth in the long run.”

Laughing, Lena slapped at Nicole’s arm. She couldn’t remember when she had felt so free to laugh as she did since she had found herself on a different world to her own in a place called Purgatory. Maybe it had been before her mother had died because there had certainly been very little reason to laugh since then. The nearest she had come was with Kara, there she was as free and happy as she had ever felt and it didn’t take alcohol to get her to release her inhibitions. But even in her happiest moments she realised now that she’d still felt the chains of her name and the desire to be better than it. To be perfect for Kara. And it had held her back from being herself and voicing any opinion without running it through her mind thousands of times to check that it didn’t sound too much like Lex or Lillian.

But, now she knew what she’d had with Kara was all a lie whereas here, no one knew the name Luthor based on anything other than what she did and that was truly freeing.

“Next checkpoint is coming up if you’re ready?”

“All ready… hopefully,” Lena grimaced as the device let out a pitiful sounding squeak. “Hmm, it’s never made that noise before. I’m sure it will be fine!” She assured a wide-eyed Nicole.

“Just… keep that thing pointed away from us. I have no desire to die again,” Nicole half mumbled under her breath as she steered the SUV over to a safe place just off the road. She barely had time to put on the brakes before Lena was climbing out, her attention fixed more on the device she, Jeremy and Rosita had been working on than the surroundings. Rolling her eyes, she quickly radioed in their position and checked that everything was okay elsewhere before pulling her jacket around her and climbing out to join Lena.

Nicole trusted Waverly’s assurance that the storm would blow over but it made an impressive, ominous, almost terrifying sight at the dark clouds rolls down from the mountains like a surge of dark grey ocean with caps of white that rolled across the barren expanse of the salt flats lay to one side of where they were parked. She could taste the harsh tang of salt on her lips as it blew across the road to scorch the leaves of all but the hardiest trees and bushes that survived the harsh conditions there.

There were certainly better, more pleasurable ways to get salt on one's body; swimming in the ocean and doing body shots being top of the list… as was everything that involved Waverly. Bottom of the list right then was having it blown directly up her nose by a stiff breeze that caused her to sneeze.

“Stupid salt.”

“Hmm,” Lena looked up from the controls she was fiddling with and looked around. “Nasty bit of land this.”

“Yep. Know the old wives tale about throwing spilt salt over your shoulder to chase away the devil?”

“Yeah?” Lena glanced at her cautiously, wondering what bombshell was about to land on her. Surely, it couldn’t be stranger than what she’d learned so far?

“According to Julian, Purgatory was once the sight of a battle between angels and demons. Heaven and Hell and this was where the final battle took place… hence the salt. Of course, Gretta and Maeve say it was done to spite the witches so it could go either way.”

“You— You’re kidding… right?”

“Nope. Just don’t mention the witch thing near Wynonna. Took us months to break her of the habit of trying to trap Waverly in a circle of salt. Waves is only part witch though. Witch-Lite. So… natural immunity. Good thing too, girl loves her seasoning.”

Lena searched Nicole’s face, trying to see the slightest hint on her far too open and honest face that she was lying. “I kind of want to accuse you of punking me—”

“That’s Wynonna’s MO. Always said I would tell you the truth.”

“There was a biblical sized battle here?”

“Not biblical enough to make it into the good book. Could have just been a light skirmish,” Nicole shrugged. “You’ve met them, Julian and Kevin are always annoyingly vague. And really, is it any more strange than all the alien invasions you’ve told us about?”

“Point taken. I still think God kind of tops aliens though.”

“Never met that asshole. Just something that called itself a god. Everything else is just beings we’ve never seen before. Maybe there is something out there that thinks of itself as the God we know but I guarantee it believes in something higher than it. Maybe our God believes in that Rao you told me about or maybe _Men In Black_ had it right and we’re all just stuck in marbles at the whim of some giant alien kid.”

“If that was so I would like to have a word with them about taking better care of their toys.”

“In a standoff like that, my money would be on you.” Nicole chuckled.

“It better be. Luthor’s don’t like to lose.” She cocked a sharp eyebrow up at Nicole. “After all that I take it, you don’t believe in a singular god controlling everything?”

“Who knows what’s out there. When it comes down to it, I just believe in being the best person I can be and leaving this place better for the kids. Saving worlds is more of a Lena thing.”

“I don’t know about that—”

“I do. I know she’s a sore subject for you but from what you’ve told me about Kara, about Supergirl, she knows too.”

“She lied to me, Nicole.”

“Are you really mad about that or that your brother told you? Which, asshole move on his part! I’m not defending what she did but, when the time comes, maybe give her a chance, hmm? ‘Cause you know, I’ve never felt the need to cosy up to any of my arch-nemeses or take them doughnuts… apart from Wynonna but she’s always stealing them anyway.”

“We don’t cosy,” Lena blushed furiously.

“Mhm. That right there is the face of someone that cosies… Someone that wants to.”

“Bit of a moot point anyway,” she sighed. “Kara isn’t here for me to do anything to.”

“You’ll figure it out.”

“And if I do… I’ll lose all this! I just can’t win!”

“Hmm, I haven’t known you all that long, Lena. But… Billionaire CEO, world saver, multi-PhDs and Doctorates… You don’t seem like the quitting type to me.”

“I’m not,” Lena bristled at the suggestion even as she preened at little as her accomplishments were listed with a similar kind of earnest force and passion she was used to only hearing from Kara. It melted the fear and uncertainty away. “Thank you, Nicole.”

“For what? Telling the truth again? Even without Rosita and Jeremy’s help, I have no doubt that you, Lena Luthor, are brilliant enough to work out how to fix all this, get your girl, and keep us all in your life.”

“God, I hope so. Though loving Kara doesn’t really mean anything,” she sighed. “Fucking sucks to fall in love with your straight best friend but I would be happy to have her just as that again. But, this place is magical and I don’t want to let any of it go.” Lena smiled fondly just at the thought about everyone she had met there in that crazy little town and especially of the little girl that had stolen her heart.

Nicole was about to question Lena’s idea on what a best friend looked like in her world but then the sound of a familiar engine drawing closer drew her gaze back to the road.

“Now, what in the hell is he doing out here?”

“Huh?” Lena followed the direction of Nicole’s suddenly piercing glare towards the sight of a beat-up box van speeding down the road. Even though Lena knew what Nicole was capable of, her heart leapt into her throat as, despite its speed, Nicole unbelievably stepped out into the middle of the road and held up her hand.

She was sure for a moment that the driver hadn’t seen her but the van came to a halt with a squeal of brakes that came from poor maintenance rather than them been hit hard in a panic.

Nicole fixed Bill Lippencott with a glower through the windscreen as she caught his clearly guilty expression. Usually, he was one to try and bluster his way out of everything so she knew that whatever he was up to, it was bad and no doubt highly illegal if not just plain dumb.

“Mr Lippencott, I clearly saw Deputy Liu filing paperwork about this thing just the other day. No insurance. Not roadworthy. And those were just the good things on her report.”

“I just need it to—”

“To what?” She demanded as he suddenly clamped his mouth shut. “And before you answer that, I can smell the animals you’ve got back there so I would be careful what you say.”

“Aww! It’s just for a mobile petting zoo, Sheriff.”

That didn’t sound too bad to Lena, not that she approved of using animals that way, but Lippencott’s explanation had Nicole pinching the bridge of her nose and her voice dropping to dangerous levels as she ordered the old man to take his van home.

“… Right. Now.”

“That seemed a little… harsh.”

“Oh, believe me,” Nicole growled as she watched the van slowly driving away. “That old coot is lucky he hasn’t managed to kill anyone with his hare-brained schemes.”

“What’s hare-brained about a petting zoo? Obviously, he hasn’t got a licence or something…”

“A mobile petting zoo, Lena. And Bill doesn’t call it mobile because it drives up to someone’s party. I didn’t get to witness it but one year he set up a mobile swimming pool in the back of his pickup that consisted of a pool liner in the back, filling it with water and driving around with drunk teens in the back… at speed. Then there was the mobile bouncy castle. Which was as horrifying as it sounds.”

“So a mobile zoo—?” Lena blinked in horror at it all.

“Yep, a mobile petting zoo means Bill driving around with little kiddies stuck in the back of a box van with loose farm animals. We’re pretty convinced he gets some of his better ideas from watching really bad movies. Luckily most people in town know better than to trust anything he does… the rest are usually too drunk to care.”

“I— Wow— How is he not—” Lena was cut off by the neglected device in her hands letting out a burst of excited squeaks and squawks as though protesting being ignored. “Looks like this is working after all!”

Nicole quickly called in a request for an officer to check up on Bill Lippencott before the end of shift to make sure the old coot was okay and was taking care of his animals too. He usually only acted out with his bizarre schemes when things were tight on his ranch and pride wouldn’t let him ask for the help that was always available. Once she was done, she focussed on Lena as her friend followed the beeps and squawks with a single-minded determination that Nicole had to save her from as she almost tripped over a rock without even seeing it.

The sky opened up. Lightning zigzagged and streaked red like blood over the mountain range behind the thick clouds as they spilt fat drops of rain. The wind picked up, lashing across the barren landscape to coat them in a thick layer of salt as the device’s squawks reached a fever pitch that sounded more like a scream to Nicole’s ears. Nicole wasn’t sure what kind of science-y thing was going on or if it was a change in atmospherics. But, something seemed to happen and the air around them was filled with the afterimages of portals that dotted the landscape and streaked down the road.

“That… that right there does not look normal,” Nicole frowned. “Wait. Can weather get through the portals too?”

**********

## National City

_“Supergirl!”_

“Ow! Not so loud, Brainy.” Kara winced at his voice suddenly burst without the slightest warning in her ear with far too much volume and excitement.

_“My apologies, Supergirl. We are getting some strange readings from within the city from near where Lena Luthor was taken. Director Danvers and Dreamer are on their way to check it out but, given the location, I felt it wise to give you, as they say, a heads up.”_

“On my way!” She was already in motion, her body turning and diving through the air as she streaked across the sky just below the level where her passing could cause damage to the skyscrapers she wove between. The sense of _déjà vu_ as she unwittingly approached from the exact same direction and angle as that day rose sickeningly within her but she bit it back as she landed on the sidewalk next to Alex and Nia.

“I told Brainy not to bother you,” Alex huffed out in exasperation at her orders been disregarded as she took in the dangerously wild look in Kara’s usually sweetly sparkling blue eyes.

“You think I wouldn’t want to know?!” Kara squared off to her sister, her chest expanding in anger. “This is Lena—”

“We don’t even know if it is anything other than a coincidence and I think you are pushing yourself past the point of exhaustion,” she threw back. “I’m worried. We all are.”

“We miss Lena too,” Nia added.

“We do.” Alex gently put her hand on the tense, quivering line of Kara’s shoulder. “Let us help you, Kar.”

“Okay,” Kara sagged slightly. “Okay. What’s going on here then?”

“Unknown right now. Brainy just said that the net of sensors over the city had gone wild.”

“Sorry! That would probably be my fault.”

Kara barely had chance to register the appearance of Barry Allen at her side as he slid to a halt in a blur of red in his full Flash regalia before he was wrapped in the coils of Dreamer’s powers and being sent flying headfirst towards a nearby dumpster before she could get a word out.

“Okay, totally my fault,” Barry rubbed his head ruefully and plucked a rotting banana skin off his shoulder. “Hi, never had the pleasure on this Earth before,” he held out his hand to the blue-clad woman that had tossed him unexpectedly. “I’m Barry Allen. Kara,” he turned to face her as he peeled back his cowl, “we’ve got a problem. The crisis has started.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN - Flash will not be playing a heavy role in the story and neither with the crisis... But it will be used at the end (((author sneaks back into the shadows whistling)))


	6. Chapter 6

## National City

Following the streak of red marking out the path of his passing as Barry raced across the ground far below, they plunged into the encroaching darkness as they headed east towards Metropolis. Kara’s mind raced quicker than her body could keep up with as it churned over everything that Barry had told them about what had been occurring on Earth-1 since they had dealt with the Monitor the year before.

With every Earth, every reality, in danger, it was frustrating that neither Barry nor Oliver had thought to keep them in on the loop with everything. Which was something Alex had pointed out loudly along with the question Barry had been unable to come up with an answer good enough to satisfy her...

They were all fighting the same enemy but if it came down to it, whose earth would they save when most of the people that knew there was even a fight on were from Earth-1? Was that why they hadn’t included Kara or any of Earth-38’s heroes?

Not even Kara had been able to answer that. No one could.

Kara had seen Krypton destroyed. She couldn’t go through that again. Which was why Kara knew they _had_ to win even at the cost of her own life as she would rather die than give up the people she loved.

The often immortalised skyline of Metropolis loomed upon the horizon, its towering skyscrapers dancing in the light of the full moon that easily rivalled the bright lights from within the buildings and the streets below. It was to the outskirts they went though, far enough outside of the city that it was a range of mountains that lent its view to the hulking shell of the Luthor mansion.

Even though no one lived there, the grounds were still well maintained at Lillian’s insistence but there was a desolation and deadness to the place that Kara felt sure the place had held since it was built. Frankly, it was an ugly monstrosity of a building that looked like it could be the staring monster in any horror movie. Grey and imposing, it lacked any kind of warmth in a way that made Kara want to turn back time so she could snatch the child Lena away before she’d had to step one foot inside.

“Wow. This is a cheery place.” Barry looked around feeling strangely nervously under the watchful gaze of the dark windows of the soulless mansion. “I can’t imagine anyone living here being normal.”

“Hey! Lena is a good person! The best. You’ll see for yourself how good and kind she is. What a beautiful soul she’s got. You’ll see… if we find her,” her voice trailed off to a whisper.

“You will, Kara. I’ll help. The readings I was following in National City before Nia tossed me around like a pancake were more like the ones that come from a breach between Earths. The Monitor’s run on a different frequency than them, but we should be able to eventually work out which Earth they lead to.”

“I hope so. It’s driving me crazy not having her around. She’s my best friend, Barry but things have been a bit strained since her brother died and I just need things to be back to normal so I can tell her who I really am. Rao! I need to tell her who I am! How much I care for her! I need things to be right again!”

Barry smiled softly as Kara unconsciously paced back and forth fast enough to leave a groove in the packed gravel of the long drive that led to the mansion. With every word that tumbled from her mouth almost as fast as her feet moved, he was certain that Kara was feeling more than friendship for Lena Luthor as he was seeing the same all-consuming love played out before him that he felt for Iris.

“Kara—”

“Where are you picking up the Monitor’s signal anyway? Is it inside?” Kara eyed the mansion.

“Actually, it seems to be over this way.” He hurried after Kara as she set off in the direction he’d pointed and vanished down an unlit path barely wide enough for one person. “Here,” he consulted his readings again as they came to the base of a tree with a small but well-maintained treehouse perched within the branches. “Trust the rich to put actual windows in a treehouse, huh?”

“So, up?”

“No,” Barry adjusted his gaze and the direction of his finger to point at the ground. “Down.” He stood back as Kara stared intently at the ground obviously using her x-ray vision to see what was beneath them. There was probably a very expensive and mechanical way to enter but in the end, Kara used brute force to turn over a boulder taller than himself and ripped open the hatch leading down into the earth that it was concealing.

Kara’s jaw clenched as she looked around the vast concrete room they stepped into. It was more than obvious that it had been used recently. And not by staff tasked with keeping it clean. The equipment there, from the bank of screens to the laboratory equipment and all the furniture, was modern and polished.

The perfect place for an escaped prisoner to hang out if the main mansion was being watched.

“Why would the Monitor come here? I mean, Lex, that I could understand. This would, and obviously was, the perfect place for him to hide out without anyone knowing.”

Flicking on the controls for the screens, she found out how right she was about the last occupant as they lit up to display details on Red Daughter, her abilities, and the suit Lex had designed for her.

“You said he was injured—?”

“Dead. He refused to let me save him and fell to his death and disintegrated before I could grab him.”

“Are you sure?” Barry pointed to a rust coloured stain pooled across the otherwise clean floor at the base of an executive style office chair. “I could be wrong but that looks like blood.”

“Oh, Rao! I should have looked more! If there was anyone that was going to somehow slip away and cheat death, it was going to be Lex! He’s probably behind Lena going missing!”

“He could be,” Barry mused as Kara started frantically pacing again, her fists clenched in frustration at her sides. “I’m not sure why he would be working with the Monitor but I take it if they’re together it’s not going to be a good thing?”

“Barry, if they are, it’s worse than you can possibly imagine. We all thought Lex was safely behind bars in maximum security and he ended up taking over one country and all but destroying another before we even knew what was going on.”

“Ahh, definitely not good then. Do you think Alex would be willing to share everything the DEO has got on Lex? Maybe we can all work on a strategy for if he turns up?”

“Pretty sure Alex will want something in return.”

“Oh?”

“Everything you’ve got on the Monitor?”

“Of course! I’m sorry again about that Kara. Oliver and I didn’t mean to leave you out of everything. I think we just hoped we could fix it before it got too bad.”

“And lost Earth-2 and Rao only knows how many more because of it?”

“You don’t understand, Kara—”

“No, I don’t. How could I?” Kara threw up her hands in exasperation.

“Oliver made a deal with the Monitor to save us the last time. We were supposed to die. And…” he raked his hand through his hair. “I visited all the timelines, Kara. Out of billions, the only ones I found in which anyone survives… I die. I didn’t want to put that burden on anyone but I think not saying only made things worse and I’m sorry for that.”

“Barry—”

“It’s okay, Kara. Let’s head back and see if we can figure out what happened to Lena and then we can work on the rest.”

As they left the confines of the bunker Lex had used to plot and scheme from, Kara tilted back her head and looked up at the stars fighting and losing against the bright glow of the full moon.

Wherever Lena was, she hoped she was looking up at the moon there and knew that she was trying to find her.

**********

## Purgatory

“Mama Lena! Mama Lena!”

The utter joy and excitement in Jas’ voice dragged Lena’s gaze away from her perusal of the bright moon where it hung high above in the velvet darkness of the sky. Bending down, she opened her arms and caught the little girl up in her arms and nuzzled her nose against her neck to mimic what she was doing to her. She knew she was being scent marked and claimed but she didn’t mind one bit as there was something special about being so loved and accepted by someone so sweet and innocent.

The other girls weren’t far behind but, as always, they allowed Jas to be possessive and greedy with her and diverted eagerly to pile onto Nicole as she climbed out of the SUV.

“I think this one is yours too.”

“Naw, I think you will find that you, Lena, most definitely belong to Jasmin. Isn’t that right, sweetie?” Winking at her daughter, Nicole tapped her gently on the tip of her nose, bringing forth a giggle that was buried against Lena’s neck.

“And which one do you belong to?”

“Oh, that would most definitely be me,” Waverly purred as she hooked the collar of Nicole’s shirt and eased her into a kiss. “Well, me and Dom,” she amended as their daughter planted a kiss on Nicole’s cheek to stake her claim too. Chuckling, she ruffled Dom’s hair fondly. After seeing Nicole almost die, Dom had never quite let her go and always fussed a little more than the others when her mama was home late.

With Jas still clinging to her like a warm, extra snuggly koala, Lena followed the others into the Haught-Earp residence. There was a definite tension in the air that night that came from the presence of the full moon. An excitement that that built and radiated even off the usually calm presence of Nicole when they had made their way back into Purgatory once they were satisfied that the scanner worked reasonably well even if it had led to nothing particularly useful. Lena was sure that it would. It just needed a little tweaking and understanding what it was showing them.

For one of the first times in her life though, Lena wasn’t consumed by the thought of tinkering to fix the problem. Really though, how could she think of anything else other than the fact she was been allowed to see a family of werewolves shifting during the full moon?

Seeing Nicole in that form was still something of a blur with everything that had been happening at the time but this would be the first chance to see all of them as, apart from Nicole, that form was denied werewolves except for the one night during the full moon. And, as it was a special night, the pack treated it as such.

“You look as jittery and excited as the girls,” Waverly teased gently.

“That’s because I am,” Lena admitted readily with a grin. “I can’t believe you would just let me see you all like this, especially the girls.”

“We don’t mind at all, Lena. You might not have been here for long but I think a scientist like you will have already figured out that we adopt family into our pack pretty darn quickly when we find them. And I think we would have had a mini-riot on our hands if we hadn’t asked,” Waverly chuckled, gently nudging her body against Lena’s, “one with Jas here leading the way.”

“So, what will happen when?”

“Nothing for a little while. The moon is full enough for Nicole and me to change but the girls need it at peak fullness to make it easier for them so there’s still a couple of hours until then. Are you okay with the nudity part of it?”

“It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“Just don’t let Wynonna hear you say that or her teasing will only get worse.”

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Lena laughed. “Seeing as there’s still a couple of hours, would you mind if I take a quick look at the scanner?”

“Wynonna and the boys aren’t due for another hour at least so knock yourself out.”

Lena smirked as Waverly’s voice trailed away distractedly and her hazel eyes filled with hunger, her tongue darting out to wet her lips as she watched Nicole cross the living room for the stairs.

“You’ve got an hour,” Lena prompted her, nodding her chin towards the stairs, “why don’t you take your own advice and knock yourself out? I can take care of the kids.”

Waverly barely even let her finish her offer before she fired off a couple of last-minute instructions over her shoulder as she strolled hurriedly towards the stairs and vanished up them so fast that Lena wondered if she’s even touched any of them. Seconds later, there was a bump and thud from above and a muffled startled noise that faded to a throaty, slightly pornographic moan that had Lena quickly working to distract the girls with snacks and the latest season of She-Ra.

While they became engrossed in the show, Lena spread out her tools in order on the coffee table and started working on the device. She was used to working in silence, her mind consumed in the problem at hand. It was one of the reasons she preferred to work alone in a lab and not because of the mad scientist aesthetic she was sure some would assume. But, surprisingly, right there, sitting on the floor hunched over a coffee with all the noise from the TV, the excited gasps and chatter from the girls and the still pornographic sounds from above reaching new heights, Lena had never been happier.

At some point, Jas moved closer and sat quietly beside her and Lena found herself joyfully answering an endless stream of questions on what she was doing and even accepting a sip from Jas’ juice box when it was offered. It was such a not-Luthor thing to be doing and she loved every second of it as Jas settled in and tried to help by trying to work out which tool Lena asked for. After a couple of tries, she resorted to gathering everything up from Lena’s carefully ordered layout and holding them up like a metallic bunch of flowers.

Anyone else daring to try such a thing would have been thrown from her lab with a microscope flying for their heads, but Lena smiled at Jas’ ingenuity, plucked the tool she was after from the offered bouquet and gave Jas a quick kiss on the head in thanks.

“Someone’s having fun.”

Lena cocked an eyebrow at Waverly’s still bed mussed hair. “Almost as much as you and Nicole were having. You know, there is such a thing as soundproofing,” she teased.

“Then they would have to soundproof the whole of Purgatory.”

“Hi, Wynonna.” Skipping across the room, Waverly planted a kiss on her sister’s cheek.

“Gross! I don’t want to think about where those lips have been!”

“It’s more than the lips you have to worry about, Earp,” Nicole teased as she came up behind Waverly and wrapped her arms lovingly around her waist.

“You two are nasty, nasty women. Hi, whyyy— Lena,” Wynonna quickly corrected course on her usual greeting as Jas’ little head whipped around in warning. “Munchkins! Whatcha watching?”

It was like a game night at Kara’s, Lena decided. Only with less alcohol and even more laughter. And really she needed to stop comparing everything to what she knew with Kara as it only made her heart ache for what she’d lost and the desire to experience everything she was with Kara.

Would she have been blushing and giggling at all the kissing and touching that just seemed to be an intrinsic part of life for the werewolves, especially Waverly and Nicole? Would she have been trying to help with the science? And who was Lena kidding, from what she had heard about Kara’s life before she had left Krypton, Kara could no doubt run rings around any scientist on Earth but she was used to dumbing that part of her down to blend in.

And who was she kidding really? This was Kara she was thinking about. She would have been sprawled out on the floor with the kids, eating snacks and crying over Catra losing all her friends. And no, Lena was absolutely not going to compare the way Catra had alienated all the people that had tried to be friends with her, and anything she had done herself even if she wouldn’t mind seeing Kara dressed like She-Ra with the big sword and everything.

“I hope you two have made enough food, I’ve held off on eating all day just for this.”

“Earp, I saw you tucking into a box on doughnuts just this morning.”

“That was this morning, Red!” Wynonna snorted.

Lena shared an eye roll with Jas as Nicole and Wynonna bantered back and forth on exactly what ‘all day’ actually meant as the house steadily filled up as Doc and Xavier joined them with Alice and Michelle and a pile of pizza boxes and takeaway containers.

Despite the posturing and boisterousness that seemed to just happen when werewolves got together, everything settled into a peaceful, gentle, background murmur that had Lena almost falling asleep as she nibbled on a slice of pizza with Jas’ warm weight settled on her lap.

Once on appetite was sated, she felt the energy go up in the room again. A background hum like an approaching storm that had her heart speeding up and her hair standing on end.

“Nicole?” her breath caught just a little when she saw that Nicole’s eyes, and everyone else's, were starting to shift until they were solid pools of colour.

“Yep, it’s about time.” Plucking Jas off Lena’s lap, Nicole sent her back over to join her sisters’. “Do you want to see the girls first? They’re smaller and won’t be as scary—”

“Nicole,” Lena cut her off. “Yes to seeing the girls first… but only because they look like they’ll explode if they don’t get to show off soon. I’m not scared of you. How could I be when the first time I saw your wolf, you were saving my life?”

“You heard the lady, Haughtshot, time to get naked and show off our moves!”

“Stop trying to make things weird, Earp.”

“Speaking of things that are weird…” Lena turned slightly too where Doc was playing with the kids and hilariously trying to keep his precious moustache out of harm’s way and use it as bait at the same time. “What happens to Doc’s moustache when he changes?”

**********

The moon was shining brighter than ever as they made their way out of the house. A bright beacon to all the werewolves stepping forth into its glow. Logically, Lena knew what the glow was really a reflection of the sun but she had always felt that it was different when she was growing up. Maybe that was her short-lived time dressing as a goth girl to frustrate Lillian… more likely it was all the bedtime stories she still remembered her mother telling her where the moon had great power.

On this Earth, the stories just happened to be true.

Jas tugged on her hand, pulling her off the porch and out into the open where there was more room. Nicole had already warned her that they would grow much bigger but it was still something of a shock to suddenly find herself surrounded by miniature versions of Nicole’s full form whose softly furred ears nearly reached her shoulder.

They were… They were beautiful and adorably cute despite the mouths full of gleaming teeth all at the same time. Their red fur glistened and gleamed over sleekly muscled bodies in the light of the moon.

All apart from Jas who’s still human hand lay within hers as she gazed up at her expectantly.

“What’s wrong Jas?” Crouching down, Waverly ran her fingers through her daughter’s hair. “Don’t you want to show off her mama Lena and run with your sisters?” Leaning closer, she listened to Jas’ whispered response. “Oh. Well, baby, that’s just when your mama and I do. Lena can’t change with you.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Jas wants you to hold her while she changes. Nicole started doing it to help me through the lingering fears and trauma of changing after from my childhood. She holds me and guides me as we change at the same time. Even though the trauma has gone, we still do it that way and I guess she’s seen us do it so often, and with being more than a little bit smitten with her mama Lena…”

“Ahh,” Lena breathed out in realisation. She crouched down with Waverly, tilting her head to catch Jas’ suddenly shy gaze. “I can’t help you the same way but… if you want me to hold you and your mama’s say it’s okay, I would be more than happy to do that.”

The plan for that night had been for her to watch from the side-lines. Plans changed though and Lena had gone from side-lines to getting an up-close and personal view as Jas changed in her arms. The whole process was quick, almost lightning-fast, but her mind slowed it down, tracking the smooth flow of fur that sprouted and lengthened across the girls shifting features as her body expanded and grew in her arms until she was left with her arms full of werewolf.

Lena ran her fingers through the silky soft red hair along Jas’ muzzle and cheeks until she reached the soft tips of her ears.

“Stunning— Ack!” Caught off-guard by a wayward swipe of tongue that covered her from chin to forehead, Lena staggered back to be caught by Wynonna who smoothly eased her into a dip.

“Knew you would fall for me eventually, Lena.”

“Let me up you fool.” Laughing, Lena swatted at Wynonna’s shoulder as the other woman finally relented and pulled her back upright.

“So, you don’t want to hold my naked body while I change too?”

“Any other time and I might just take you up on that offer,” Lena purred lowly, making Wynonna blush, “but, apparently, Jas subscribes to ‘I licked it so it’s mine’ and I know where my loyalties lie.”

“Outsmarted by a redhead!” Wynonna gasped in mock pain.

“Wouldn’t be the first time, Earp.”

“Mhm. True. True… Mercedes was always a tricky one.”

“Will you go and change so we can actually get a run in together?” Rolling her eyes at her sister’s antics, Waverly pushed her in the direction of Doc and Xavier before turning back to Lena to check on how she was doing. Maybe a little wide-eyed as she watched all the girls romping and chasing each other around but it definitely seemed to be more because she was just desperate to take everything in than from any kind of fear.

“Are you doing okay?”

“Absolutely! Waverly, what does it feel like when you change like that? I know you are all not too fond of the movie comparisons but… well, that’s all I’ve got to go on and everything I’ve seen or read says it’s a violent and painful thing but that didn’t seem to bother the kids at all.”

“It feels… good,” Waverly gave a weak shrug of apology for her description. “The first time generally isn’t easy. Nicole’s was worse because her father forced the change onto her when she was really young. For me, it was a foolish prank right as I was changing for the first time that had me associating pain with changing. The girls… they changed for the first time much younger than wolves are supposed to. Nicole really beat herself up thinking it was all her fault that it happened. It wasn’t. In a way though, I think it helped it to be easier because they never grew up hearing how painful that first time could be and it just happened naturally.” She smiled as they ran past, their yips, howls and laughter filling the air.

“As to what it feels like… it’s hard to describe. Books and movies used to, and sometimes still do, depict it as a disease. As something unnatural forced upon someone. But, this form is just as natural to us as running on four paws or two.”

“Well, it’s amazing,” Lena smiled. “Thank you for letting me be a part of it.”

“Not at all.” Waverly enveloped Lena in a warm hug. “I’d better go change before Wynonna can gripe at me about keeping everyone waiting.”

Lena moved back towards the porch as the adults all changed forms. There was, as she had been warned, nudity everywhere. But they were all so comfortable with their bodies and didn’t flaunt anything that it was hard to feel self-conscious in the face of it. That they were all so ridiculously good looking didn’t hurt at all.

The loving way with which Nicole and Waverly held each other as they changed was just beautiful as the moonlight seemed to linger, caught upon the gleam of their coats to create a bright flare of a halo around them that seemed almost like wings.

Before long they were off, their sleek bodies blending into the night as they moved across the land and into the trees.

Lena lingered on the porch, listening to the rising sounds of the werewolves that filled the night sky across the whole of Purgatory and beyond. As they lifted their heads, their voices joining together as they sang to the moon, Lena listed her own head and looked to the bright disk.

“I wish you were here Kara. All my life, everyone I have let close has hurt me… lie to me… betrayed me. Lex, Lillian, Andrea. I think it was you that hurt me the most though. That’s because I let you in further than I did anyone else. I gave you what was left of my heart and you just…” she broke off, sucking in a breath as she let the song of the werewolves and the glow of the moon soothe her.

“I’ve tried to hold on to all the pain, all the _hurt_, but no matter what, I can’t stop missing you. I think you would love it here. I know I do. I made friends, Kara. Actual friends… puppies of all sizes.” Chuckling at herself, Lena wiped away the lone tear that broke past the barrier of her lashes to tumble down her cheeks.

“I miss you, Kara.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NB - I have no idea if Oliver ever told anyone what deal he made with the Monitor or what anyone knows... I don't watch Flash or Arrow and frankly, the lack of Supergirl or anyone from the show in the last crossover frustrated me to the point that I have no desire to go back and see if anything was said at the time.


	7. Chapter 7

## Purgatory

“And _why_ do we have to do it this way?”

Nicole glanced over her shoulder to where Lena was hesitating on the edge of the Yiska village paddock. Her head was tilted to the side, her brow furrowed slightly as she looked over the weather and time-worn bars at the golden palomino stallion Valdez had gifted her.

“That would be because no vehicles can get to the area you decided you wanted to check next.”

“Ahh, yes.” Frowning, Lena peeked around the horse. “Are you sure nothing can get there? What about a helicopter?” Not that she had ever had much luck with those but right then, it actually seemed like a safer option than relying on skills she hadn’t made use of for more years than she cared to remember. In fact, she was pretty sure that the last time she had ridden she had managed to fall out of the saddle while dismounting.

“Can’t think of anyone outside of the Big City that would have a pilots licence so, pretty sure. Unless you want me to change and you can ride on my back. I don’t do saddles though.”

“Not outside of the bedroom anyway, huh, Haught-to-Trot.” Winking at Lena, Wynonna elbowed Waverly in the ribs before her little sister could dodge her.

“Shut up, Earp.”

Chuckling at their antics, Lena instinctively held out her hand as the palomino insistently reached for her touch. The velvet softness of its muzzled pressed warmly into her palm as he nuzzled against her and relaxed into the scratch of her nails beneath the warmth of his forelock and blew contentedly through his nose.

“You are so pretty, sorry,” she chuckled as he gave her a look through sky blue eyes, “very handsome.” Lena had seen many horses over the years thanks to Lillian’s obsession with being seen to be moving in the right circles before Lex had gone off the rails. She had seen all kinds and breeds from polo ponies to thoroughbred racehorses and the very best dressage and show jumpers, and then there were the ones that were trotted out exclusively to show off the wealth of their owners.

Of the latter, one of the most beautiful that Lena had seen was a black _Akhal-Teke_ that looked like he had been just dipped in paint. But the horse before her was even more stunning with his glimmering golden coat and a mane that shone like spun silver.

“His name is Kinich Ahau, Kin for short.”

Lena smiled as Kin’s body seemed to puff up with pride at the very mention of his name and the touch of Valdez’s strong hand upon his finely arched neck, but his silky soft muzzle remained in her palm as though he couldn’t bear to be parted from her. “Kinich Ahau. A name that special must mean something?”

“Kin means sun in my language. And, Kinch Ahau, was the sun god of my people. Kin here was the first of his line to bear the colouring of my favourite horse that started it all many years ago.”

And when Valdez said many years, Lena could only imagine how long ago that truly might have been given the actual age of the Mayan princess that had been around to witness the worst of the Spanish Conquistadors and their lust for gold.

“There was a time when I was forced by wars to take a break from my quest and settled into a quiet life working a ranch and ended up working and breeding horses. Now that my quest is over thanks to my new friends,” she gestured around to Nicole and the others and also the village and the wider area, “I finally have time on my hands to take up old pursuits. The line of horses that Alexandria has bred are the best in the world and I am hoping that she might consider letting our bloodlines combine.”

“Kin is magnificent. I feel like I would be sullying him by riding him,” Lena finished on a small whisper.

Valdez looked at the woman at her side in confusion. She thought maybe that she might be pulling her leg how Wynonna liked to, but she looked too serious for that. “You have no idea how brightly your soul shines, Lena Luthor. It might not seem it with how quickly they took you under their wings, but wolves do not trust easily. Especially not ones like Nicole that have endured such hardships. And the Yiska are even less trusting. But, when they know your soul… when they know its worth… then there is no one more loyal. If that is not enough, Kin trusts you too. He has not let anyone ride him without protest before but he is all but begging you to do so right now. If you can’t trust your own worth, trust what everyone else sees.”

“You sound like Kara,” Lena whispered softly. “She was always telling me I was better than my name. How good I was.”

“You _are_ good,” Valdez assured her with a reaffirming squeeze of her shoulder. “Now, would you like a hand mounting up?”

“Sure!” Lena swallowed heavily as her voice rose an octave as she looked at the task ahead and took Valdez up on her offer and her guiding support as she helped her to mount up. “It’s been a while since I’ve been on a horse. Boarding school actually. Just like riding a bike though, right?”

“Lena, Kin is a horse, not a bike,” Valdez stated with as expressionless a voice as she could manage.

Lena’s hands froze where they were busily adjusting the reins in her hand to how she remembered it being drilled into her. Blinking, she looked back down at Valdez in an effort to work out if she was serious right then. Her face was the perfect poker face… all apart from the slightest upward quirk at the corner of her mouth that was matched by a barely suppressed sniggering coming from where Wynonna was standing.

“Tell me, Valdez, did you and Wynonna go to the same school for sarcastic whit or is there something in the water here?”

“Hey, mine is all natural charm!” Wynonna boasted.

“So, Ms Natural Charm, you not joining us?”

“Oh hell to the nope! Horses and I don’t mix!” She gave the beast Waverly was mounted on a nervous side-eye.

“The only ones that can convince ‘Nonna on a horse is the girls,” Waverly smiled fondly at her big sister. “That was once and since then she’s been trying to convince them that the best mount around is her Harley.”

“Now that is the kind of power I want between my thighs… apart from Doc and Xavier,” Wynonna quickly added as Xavier’s dark eyes settled on her and arms bristling with delicious muscles crossed over his wide chest.

“Don’t try to spare our feelings, Earp. We both know the moaning the other night was because you were thinking of that damn beast you ride.”

“My baby. My 1200 stage one Screaming Eagle. Hmm, that _was_ a good dream,” Wynonna purred at the memory.

“And on that note,” Nicole clapped her hands sharply together. “Time to get moving.” She swung herself lightly up into the saddle, her body sinking instinctively into the cradle of the perfectly worn leather and the shift of Macha’s body as their movements became one. The lightest of pressure with her thigh turned Macha into a lazy turn that drew them up alongside Lena, who was still looking a little wary even though Kin was behaving impeccably.

“Hey, if you don’t want to—”

“I’ll be fine,” Lena quickly assured her. “I hope.”

“Relax a moment. Let your body sink into the saddle and feel Kin,” she ordered softly. “That’s it.” Already she could see Lena’s body losing its rigidity as she followed her instructions. “Valdez would not have let Kin near you if she thought his intentions were anything other than pure.” She smiled as the stallion reached back enough to nibble teasingly on the toe of Lena’s boot. “The ride isn’t all that difficult, not for them anyway, and the start is even easier. But, if you change your mind, that’s okay too,” she gently assured her even though she knew that Lena was too tough and brave to back away from anything.

“Thanks, Nicole.” Lena couldn’t help but smile as Nicole tipped the brim of her white Stetson with the tip of a finger. Between that and the lazy smile curving Doc’s lips that set his bushy moustache twitching and blue eyes twinkling as he rode by on his bay horse, she felt as though she had stepped back in time to the old west.

With a hesitant click of her tongue and light prod of her heels, Lena somehow managed to get Kin moving. Even though she couldn’t imagine anything other than humour or slight exasperation in his eyes at her floundering attempts, he moved as smooth as silk across the ground and gave her the courage to trust herself and him.

The sun-dappled woods of the Pine Barrens gave way to rocky ground that rose steadily upwards and… never mind vehicles… Lena wasn’t sure it was passable by anything, not even their surefooted horses, but Nicole and the others kept right on going as though they were doing nothing more than taking a stroll in the park.

As she grew more confident with her own abilities and Kin, Lena grew bold enough to take her eyes off the view afforded her between Kin’s ears and looked around them. The view was stunning. Lena had been to many places over the years; different states and different countries. But they were, as it seemed with most things, places visited out of her control.

When she was younger it was holiday destinations that were, of course, only the finest so that her parents could schmooze and conduct business and show off their charitable works… aka… the bastard child they had adopted off the streets of Ireland. Then, when she was more grown and had shed the doe-eyed little orphan Annie appeal for her less appealing gothic punk phase, she had actually been left alone to travel where she wanted as long as she didn’t sully the Luthor name.

After Lex had done the sullying, and her mother had followed suit, Lena’s travelling had been taken almost a full circle to where it was only done for business reasons and Lena couldn’t remember the last time she had ever just stopped and taken in a view how she was then as she looked at the mountains whose snowy peaks vanished into the clouds, and the almost unbroken expanse of trees and rolling wilderness that seemed to go on forever.

Every breath of air was fresh and cleansing, sinking deep into her lungs and soul and brought with it a stillness of being.

“You look happy.”

“I am,” she smiled at Waverly as they stared out at the view together. Lena settled back in the saddle with a happy sigh as she breathed in the air and the view. The warm leather of the saddle creaked slightly as Kin shifted his weight beneath her and shook his head, setting the long silver strands of his mane shimmering in the sun as the whipped back around her body. “I know there’s a lot going on. We wouldn’t be out here with this if there wasn’t,” she patted the scanner hanging from the strap looped across her body. “But that view,” she swept her arm out, “that view makes it impossible to feel anything other than happy.”

“Is your Canada not as good?”

“I haven’t seen much of it outside of the big cities but I know it would never be as good because that Canada hasn’t got all my friends.” It was the simple truth, and yet there was a twinge as she thought about the friends she had lost. Friends that were Kara’s and never hers to begin with. Blinking her eyes, Lena dashed away the sting of tears and chose to look around at the friends she had made there instead of dwelling on what she had lost.

What she might never get back even if she could find her way home.

“Less than a mile to go and we can rest up the horses… and our butts,” Nicole finished with a quiet grumble as she shifted around on her saddle to try and get rid of some of the numbness that was settling in.

“Don’t worry, baby, I’ll ease the kinks out for you later.”

“I regret to inform you both that I was instructed by Wynonna before we left on this endeavour and, as per her standing orders for if you got, as Wynonna put it, ‘frisky’, I must now say… ‘Gross!’ and tell you to ‘knock it off’.”

“Even when she isn’t here, Wynonna finds a way to cockblock us,” Waverly huffed.

“And that surprises you, how?” Nicole chuckled.

“I guess it shouldn’t,” Waverly shrugged. “Doesn’t mean that when she does it I can’t plot revenge though,” she smirked.

“And that look right there is why I never want to be on your bad side, baby girl,” Nicole gave an exaggerated shiver.

“What?”

“I would have to agree on that,” Lena nodded.

“As would I,” Doc drawled out.

“Hey, you’re all being mean!” Waverly called after them as they set their horses moving down the poorly defined trail ahead of her. “I’m the nicest person in Purgatory!”

“She got a sash to prove it,” Nicole stage-whispered to Lena. “I saw it.”

“And you are fixing to see it again later when I tie your butt up with it, Nicole Rayleigh Haught!”

Clearing his throat, Doc held up a finger to get their attention before speaking. “In the words of my beloved mate… Gross!”

Their gentle, loving bantering continued all the way down to the place to rest that Nicole had promised them. Their laughter and raised voices filled the air and had birds, small animals, and even a grazing deer to lift up its head to watch them ride by but not once did Lena believe that they weren’t paying attention to their surroundings and watching for possible danger. As was proved when they fell silent and Nicole pointed out the hulking figure of a moose watching them and steered them a respectful distance from the watchful beast.

“Wow! I’ve seen pictures of them but… Wow!”

“Yep,” Waverly agreed. “Those guys are _crazy_ when riled up so even we avoid them. Wynonna bumped into one when she was about twelve and got chased for more than ten miles before she was able to give it the slip. She had nightmares for months after. Used to just sit bolt upright in bed and scream ‘moose’ at the top of her lungs.”

Nicole snorted out an inelegant laugh at the image, her shoulders rising and falling as she struggled to contain it.

“Have you got any embarrassing chase story then, Nicole?” Lena asked as the laughter died down a little.

“Hmm. Most of my chases have been people and other werewolves with pitchforks,” she shrugged nonchalantly, barely even registering how bad what was to her the distant past would sound until she saw the regret starting to crease Lena’s brow. “But embarrassing? I think that would _definitely_ be when a bantam cockerel chased me out of a henhouse I was trying to catch a nap in. That damn thing was a pint-sized monster. All feathers and an attitude that would have made that moose take a step back.”

“How old were you?”

“Twenty,” she mumbled. “Fortunately, it never gave me nightmares.”

“Nope, she’s never once woken up screaming ‘cock’,” Waverly confirmed with a smirk.

“And you, cowboy?”

“I would have to say that was most assuredly down to my lack of attention to my surroundings leading me into the path of a pair of bear cubs. I plum forgot how to use my senses to track where their mama was. I panicked when I heard a branch snap and knocked my ass out running into a tree. When I came to, my best boots were slightly chewed and covered in slobber but I was otherwise intact.”

“How about you, Waverly?”

“Hmm, actually, I don’t think I have one,” Waverly stated with a proud grin… until a distant memory came back to her. “Apart from Stephanie Jones’ toy poodle, Buttercup,” she scowled. “That spoilt thing hated me and chased me every chance it got no matter how many treats I tried bribing it with.”

Lena wasn’t sure if it was because she wasn’t a wolf or because she had grown up in the Luthor household where pets weren’t allowed when she was there, but she had no such tales to share. Unless she counted the puppy that was Kara Danvers and she was absolutely not going to think about Kara or that adorable full-body wiggle she did when she was excited, any more than day.

Absolutely not!

**********

## National City

With the aid of her powers, Kara kept a watchful eye on where her friends were stationed across National City from her own perch atop L-Corp. It hurt knowing that Lena wasn’t in her office below. Not that she had anything against Jess who had stepped up to act on her behalf. Jess was her friend too, at least Kara hoped she thought of her that way. She was loyal to a fault and backed down from no one, but, she wasn’t Lena.

“Anything on the scanners yet?”

“Nothing yet, Supergirl.”

“Keep the comm chatter down.”

“My apologies, director.”

“Sorry, Alex.”

Over the still open comms line, Kara could hear the quiet thud of Alex’s booted feet pacing restlessly across the floor at the DEO. Her sister would not admit it, not with so many people around her that were only work acquaintances, but Kara knew Alex was worried about Lena too. Even more so now that Barry had finally told them what they had found out about the Monitor on Earth 1 and about the other Earth’s being destroyed. How that and Lena going missing were related was unknown, but they just knew that it was even if Barry doubted it.

Turning her attention to the CatCo building, Kara focussed in on her speedster friend. Barry was standing still, the only movement to hint that he was alive and that someone hadn’t placed a mannequin on the top of the building and covered it in red paint, came from the rapid, almost lightning-fast, movement of his hand at his side as he looked intently at the scanner in his hand.

A distant scream and the squeal of brakes from the streets below caught Kara’s ear.

_“What in the hell is that thing?!”_

_“Stay away from it!”_

_“Watch out!”_

It could have been anything causing the panic, alien, human or even a crane out of control, but Kara took to the air before the scanner in her hand could even let out a beep. “The harbour! Something is happening down near the harbour!”

“Got it on the scanner! J’onn, Brainy… everyone converge on the harbour!” Alex barked out as she waved to the team waiting on her instructions in the hub and ran for the elevator waiting for them. “Protect the citizens and watch your backs! The last thing we need is to lose anyone else!” She barked out urgently, knowing full well that her friends would completely disregard their own safety… just as she would as soon as her boots were on the ground.

Maybe once this was all over she could have a word with Brainy and Lena about designing some jetpacks or something for the less super-powered members of the DEO so they could be there as actual backup for them and not just clean-up.

“Stay safe,” she whispered to herself as the elevator doors slid shut.

## Purgatory

The break to rest their aching bones and muscles on the banks of a fast-flowing river had been more than welcome. And that was despite the fact that the moose they had seen, or its exact twin, had followed them and gazed at them for a time while idly chewing on something… leaves, grass or the bones of its mortal enemy… Lena was singularly out of touch about what moose ate other than to say they looked intimidating while doing it. Eventually the moose decided it had made its point and moved on and they were left alone to sit on smooth, sun-warmed boulders and enjoy the sounds of the river.

All too soon as far as her thighs were concerned, they had mounted up and continued on their way up along a trail that made Lena question the sanity of going any further. But, by that point, her trust in Kin was as solid as it had been in anything in her life so on they went until they reached the top of the path.

The wind whipped across Lena’s face and body in a heady rush as it followed the narrowing path of the land and roared up at them like a storm-tossed wave crashing against the rocks. Kin tossed back his head in a move that seemed far too deliberate and showy as it sent his glorious mane rippling back like a model in a shampoo commercial.

“You are such a diva!”

“I think Kin has a bit of a crush on Akna,” Nicole nodded towards Waverly’s pretty cremello mare, who was almost too deliberately turned away from his showy display.

“They would make beautiful babies together.”

“Oh no, no more babies! You have no idea how difficult it was persuading the girls that foals belonged in the stables.”

“I can imagine,” Lena chuckled.

“Really? I still can’t believe how far up the stairs they managed to get them last time and that was _while_ we were in the living room too,” she grumbled.

“Nicole blamed me for ‘distracting her’,” Waverly rolled her eyes as a blush stole across Nicole’s cheeks at the memory. “They probably would have made it all the way upstairs too if Macha hadn’t tried to follow her babies and bumped into the kitchen table,” Waverly giggled. “Startled Nicole so much she fell clean off the couch, changed mid-fall and ended up on her back with all four paws sticking straight up in the air.”

Lena tried desperately to control her face at the image they painted in her mind but her eyes fell upon Doc’s moustache twitching wildly and she lost it so completely she nearly toppled out of the saddle.

**********

## National City

Fists clenched before her, Kara punched a hole through the air as she rocketed across the city. A part of her was aware of J’onn and Brainy, the latter carrying Dreamer, as they flew in from where they had been stations across the city, as well as Barry as he wove in and out of traffic and sped over buildings in a blur of colour. Just as she was aware of the drag of her cape against her shoulders as it streamed out behind her, aiding her stability in the air even though the expectations placed upon it by all that saw it and the house of El sigil on her chest sometimes felt like they were weighing her down.

Her name rose up as a litany from the people on the ground as they saw her coming and spread the word. It foolishly froze some of them in place as their implicit trust in her to help overcame their instincts to get themselves away from danger. And that there was danger, there was no mistaking as a portal shimmered and swirling with dark energy hung in the air.

Kara felt it tug at her cape as she landed on the ground, her eyes fixed upon the dark clothed woman standing unaffected before the creation forming from her hands. It was her! The woman that had taken Lena from her!

“Where is she!? Where’s Lena?!”

“Out of your reach, Supergirl!”

With a roar that shook the earth, Kara rushed across the ground, her feet cracking the concrete and creating a furrow in her passing.

“Supergirl! No!” His shout going unheeded, J’onn quickly phased a bystander out from behind the wheel of his car and it was tugged and pulled towards the swirling vortex of the portal, narrowly missing Supergirl before it was sucked inside.

**********

## Purgatory

“What in the blue blazes was that!?”

“Best guess… a 2014 Honda Civic?” Lena blinked as she looked up from the scanner to watch as the aforementioned vehicle seemed to sail across the sky from one portal made visible by the scanner in her hands, and disappeared through another right before their eyes. “Or it could have been a 2015 model,” she admitted with a frown.

“A car flew past and she’s worried about getting the year wrong?” Nicole rolled her eyes fondly.

**********

## National City

“Who are you work—!” Kara’s breath left her in a rush as a Honda Civic suddenly smashed into her at full speed and sent her tumbling across the ground. Getting hit with a vehicle was surprisingly common as a superhero. Having appear in mid-air to do so was a little more unusual but she took only a second to think about it as she unwrapped her cape from around her head and flew back towards the woman who was keeping J’onn and the others at bay with swirls of energy that tossed them around and interfered with their abilities.

As she neared, a coil of Dreamer’s energy that had been aimed at the woman wrapped around her. Before Nia could release her, Kara shouted at her to “hold on!” With the power in hand, Kara flew a tight circle around the mystery woman that wrapped her up in its coils. With a wild grin on her face, Nia pulled back with a sharp gesture that yanked the woman down to her knees in the perfect position for J’onn to slap a pair of power dampening cuffs around her wrists.

“Now!” storming forward, Kara yanked the woman off the ground by the front of her outfit. “Who are you and what did you do to Lena Luthor?”

“My name is Midnight and I did as I was told to.”

“By whom?” Barry stepped closer. “The Monitor?”

“The Monitor?” she snorted derisively at the red costumed hero. “The one I serve is more powerful than that fool.”

“Then, who?”

“The Anti Monitor.”

“Not very inventive with the names,” Nia snorted.

“You won’t be so dismissive of his power when you see your world and your reality crumbling before you like I did mine.”

“He’s the one behind the destruction of the Multiverse?”

“Yes.”

“You said he destroyed your world? Why would you serve anyone that did that?”

“The Monitor is not the only one that is choosing the best for the battle ahead. It just so happens that the Anti Monitor is making better choices,” Midnight bragged.

“I’m not too sure about that, Midnight. After all, you’re not going to be there for any battle.”

“And yet, I have already taken a vital piece off the board and crippled another. After all, what is a Super without a Luthor?”

“What did you do to her?!” Kara roared in anger. Tightening her grip, she hoisted Midnight off her feet and took off from the ground like a vengeful rocket. Rising high above the heads of the others before they could even dare to stop her. Stopping only when she felt the moisture from the clouds beading against the exposed skin of her face.

“She is alive,” Midnight choked out around the pressure her tightened clothing was putting across her throat. “Or at least, I didn’t kill her. There are Earth’s out there more dangerous than any you have known before or dare to imagine, Supergirl. I put Luthor on one of those.”

Kara watched warily, her grip tightening as Midnight lifted her cuffed hands and allowed the weakest amount of power she could release to dance from her fingertips. Like oil on water, it swirled around, forming images of creatures Kara had seen only in books or on the screen.

And, in the middle of them all, surrounded, was the image Lena screaming in terror.


	8. Chapter 8

## Purgatory

Nicole dragged her eyes away from where the car had vanished moments before. Her last glimpse of it had been of the National City tag on the back of it before the portal had closed behind it. She cast her senses far and wide across the land, taking in everything that she could for more clues.

She could still smell the unique scent that had come through with the vehicle as well as the scent of warmer air tainted with the traffic pollutants and dirt that always seemed to cling to a big city. There had been sounds too. She was sure they were too faint for Lena to pick up with her more human ears but there was the echo of shouts and screams in Nicole’s mind. If the flying car hadn’t been a telling enough, whatever had been happening on the other side of the portal it sounded like a battle was being fought.

The stench of the city dissipated quickly, blending in with the crisper, cleaner air, but it was still there just as the ghostly afterimages of portals revealed by the device in Lena’s hand were. Just how many of the damn things were there? And, had they been quick in and out visits like the car, or had they left things or people stranded like they had Lena?

The pop and crackle of her radio coming to life tugged Nicole out of her thoughts as she listened in to the barely audible report from the station. The reception out there was poor but even if there was no way for her to contact them, there was enough coming through for her to piece together that something bad had happened at Bill Lippencott’s ranch.

Something bad enough that they were requesting backup and forensics.

“What’s going on, Nicole?” Waverly wanted to reach her for and console her Alpha as she felt the concern flooding through her.

“Not sure yet, Waves. We need to head back though. Not sure what that Lippencott is up to this time but it must be bad for them to have to call in for backup.”

“Bill is a fool, but he is not a violent one,” Doc mused quietly, his brow creasing into a frown.

Something niggled at the back of Lena’s mind as she remembered meeting the man with the fondness for weird and pretty illegal schemes, on the lonely stretch of road. “Where does he live?”

“The other side of the ridge over there,” Nicole pointed in the direction where his run-down ranch lay. It was far too close to the salt flats for his land to produce anything worthwhile as far as crops went, and too near a river that had a bad record of flooding when the snow melted.

Her radio came to life again, the signal even fainter and more garbled but Nicole felt the blood dropping down through her body to land somewhere down by her boots as she made out the code and the panic in her officers' message.

“Waves, Doc!” As she spoke, Nicole swung down from Macha’s back and handed the reins to Waverly. “Make sure Lena gets back safely okay?”

“Nic—” Waverly reached out, managing to snag Nicole’s slender wrist before she moved away. Her head whipped around, revealing the storm of troubled emotions in her shifting brown eyes. Her hair gleaming like fire in the sun as it grew and spread as she started to shift until she towered even over her height seated on Akna.

“I’ve got to go, Waves. That last message was an officer down.”

“Let me come with you.”

“This is PSD business, Waves.” Nicole softened her words with a gentle brush of the back of a clawed finger across Waverly’s cheek and an even softer nuzzle of her nose against the faint scar left by her teeth upon Waverly’s throat that stilled her natural protest. “Let me go do my job, baby.”

“Fine,” Waverly agreed with a soft pout. “We’ll find out what we can when we get back to the village. But if you come home with so much as a scratch on you—”

“I’ll be careful,” Nicole assured her. Grabbing the finger pointing at her in warning, she kissed the tip of it mid wag and gave Waverly the best approximation of a smile as she could manage with her mouth in a form that was no longer designed to show that emotion in a way that didn’t look terrifying to anyone that wasn’t a werewolf.

She could feel Waverly’s eyes upon her and the gentle presence of her within her mind filling her with love long after she threw herself in a controlled slide down the steep, craggy, scree-covered incline and raced out of sight into the trees below.

Her mind grew blank yet hyperaware at the same time as she darted around trees and sailed over bushes, boulders and the massive trunks of trees felled by age and weather. Her end goal lay ahead but right then, she was a creature of instinct following the beat that ran through her body and the land beneath her paws. In her full wolf form, Nicole knew she was fast but every second, every heavy beat of her heart, was a moment too long that had her pushing herself harder and harder as she cut a path through the trees and across the open land and the wide river towards her goal.

Nicole slowed as she neared the edge of the Lippencott property, her senses on full alert as she shifted back into her human form so as not to scare a sudden reaction out of Bill or her officers. They were used to working with her in all her forms but anything could happen in a stressful situation and the heavy tang of blood and meat in the air told her that what lay ahead was even more than a simple stressful situation than their garbled messages to the station had.

In the distance, Nicole could hear the wail of sirens coming from the direction of Purgatory but, even at their top speed, which she knew they would be pushing for all they were worth, they were still fifteen to twenty minutes away and a lot could happen in that time.

Unclipping her radio as she sneaked along the edge of the property, she spoke quietly, calling in her position before she stepped out into the open were the main house and the barns were located, so that they would know she was there but the reply from her people came in the form of a soft groan and as urgent hiss that carried on the air.

“Sheriff!”

Crouching down, Nicole followed the voice and caught sight of Liu pressed flat to the ground underneath their cruiser. Her trembling hands were pressed to JD’s neck and shoulder and her eyes were wild and wide with fear as she looked back at her but she rallied enough to shake her head as Nicole tapped her radio questioningly.

“It’s broken! No!” Liu called out urgently as the Sheriff made as though to leave what little shelter was provided by the line of trees she was crouched beside to come closer. “Something out here, Sheriff. Filled the area with fog and attacked JD from above. We can’t move without it attacking. You need to find cover.”

Fog? Filling a place with sexy pink fog that clouded the mind was the M.O. of the European vampires but they had left Purgatory alone… apart from Kate who had set up her fortune-telling business and called the town her home too. Liu knew what their fog looked like though. She would have called it a vampire attack if she had believed it was one.

“Vampire?”

“This thing was nothing like Kate,” Liu shook her head. “It didn’t look like it had ever been human and it killed Lippencott’s animals. Ripped them open. Vampires hate animal blood and don’t usually touch things like that.”

“No, no they don’t. Bill?”

“Alive. He’s in the house taking pot-shots at whatever it is to cover us when he can.”

“JD?”

“Alive too, boss. Chewed up, but alive,” he groaned.

“Hang in there, okay? Help is on the way.”

Nicole scented the air, probing past the blood and offal as she searched for whatever had two of her best and bravest officers cowering under their car. She wasn’t getting anything specific but all around the area, there was an even stronger form of the scent she associated with the portal.

In fact…

It was getting stronger!

Nicole’s lips curled back in a snarl that exposed lengthening teeth as she saw a thick black fog tinged with a sickly green curling around her feet and climbing up her legs. In the periphery of her vision, she saw almost in slow motion as Liu pointed urgently behind her and started scrambling to get out from under the car. From the house, she saw Bill’s face at a window, his skin washed out and pale as he raised his old shotgun. Nicole spun around on her heel, her body changing fully as she surged up to her feet, her claws bared and ready as she faced the nightmarish creature behind her.

Too many limbs! Way too many limbs! Was Nicole’s first thought as it reared back in shock, giving her a moment to take in the fact that not only were its arms were almost as tall as its body but that there were four of them. And that they, along with the rest of its body from what she could see were grey and leathery, looking more like scales than skin. Its head was bald, a ridge of scales standing up proud along the top of it like a mohawk or a fin. In fact, the more Nicole looked at it with its thick, scaly skin, lidless eyes, and slits for nostrils, the more reptilian it looked.

The more _alien_ it looked.

With a shrieking hiss, the being opened wide its mouth to reveal rows of pointed teeth dripping with a dark, greenish-black substance. Then, just as Nicole was getting used to the sight of that, its jaw cracked open wider and wider like a snake unhinging its jaw… and then it split apart even more. Unfurling like fleshy petals into flaps willed with dripping teeth.

A fissure of fear raced down Nicole’s spine but instead of tucking in her tail and running, she roared back, showing her own claws and teeth.

This was her land! These were her people to protect!

Another roar joined her own as Bill stormed out of his home and let off a shot in the creatures direction. And Nicole was going to be having a word with him about that as she felt it pass far too close to her shoulder on its way to sailing over its head. But, the combination of herself, Bill’s poor aim and the wail of sirens only minutes out, finally had the thing in retreat.

“JD! JD!”

Liu’s cry of alarm had Nicole giving up her chase before she had taken no more than a step. Grabbing Bill by the shoulder in a firm grip that had him yelping, she pulled him back, placing him where he and his gun would do the most good.

“Keep watch until they get here! Do not shoot or point anywhere near us or so help me!”

Dragging the cruiser off them to give them all more room, Nicole shifted form and knelt beside them. Her fingers slid across the coolness of JD’s skin coated in the slick of blood, sweat and dirt but, they found his pulse. It was beating slowly but it was still beating.

“Sheriff—”

“He’s out cold, but he’s alive,” Nicole quickly assured her. “Keep pressing on his wound until the paramedics can take over.”

Liu nodded jerkily, tears pricking at her eyes as she looked down at her partner’s too pale face.

“You’re doing great. You hear me? You’ve kept him alive.”

“It just dropped on us out of nowhere. JD… The idiot pushed me aside and got bit for it.” She swallowed down the bile that rose at the memory of his screams. “You hear me, JD? You’re an idiot and if you even think of dying on me JD, I swear I’ll find a way to bring you back to life just so I can slap you for scaring me.”

“Be worth it jus’ so’s I don’ have to pay ya back for the coffee this mornin’.”

“You asshole!” Clawing back on the sob that was choking her, Liu weakly slapped his good shoulder and stepped aside at the urging of the paramedics waiting to take over from her.

With the area filling up with cruisers and ambulances, Nicole quickly gave them their orders, took the weapon from Bill’s hands and led him back towards his house. His whole body was shaking with every step but he made it inside and managed to fill the kettle before she had to take over. Placing it on the stove, she steered him to a chair and got him to sit down while they waited for it to heat up.

The rising whistle of the old kettle finally broke the silence that had fallen over the kitchen. Lifting it off the heat, Nicole rinsed out a mug and quickly fixed him a coffee and placed it on the table before him to be wrapped up in his hands as silence returned once more.

“You okay?”

Giving a snort, Bill lifted his head intent on giving the slip of a girl a piece of his mind… and then he saw the strength and caring in her steady gaze and the fire bled out of him in a sigh. “As long as your boy will be, yeah.”

“What happened, Bill?” She could see the furtive shift in his eyes, the sudden refusal to meet hers. Wrapping her knuckles on the old table, she straightened up and moved towards the door, pulling it open sharply before turning back and fixing him with a hard stare. “Hold on to that lie you were just planning on telling me, and think about telling me the truth when I get back.”

With the door shut behind her, Nicole let out a deep breath as she looked around. There were a lot of people there, more than was necessary for the crime scene but that was always the way of it when one of their own was involved. And, they knew better than to mess anything up so she let it slide.

“Liu!” Nicole waved her over as she looked her way.

“Yes, Sheriff?”

“How’s he doing?”

“Drugged up to the gills and alternating between saying his wife will dig his scar and been terrified that she will kill him for getting hurt.”

“It’ll probably be a bit of both.”

“Speaking from experience, Sheriff?”

“Mhm. I think Waverly and Dom would both glower at me if I get a paper cut.”

Liu couldn’t hold back her giggle at the soft look on Nicole’s face even if she’d wanted too.

“What happened out here, Liu? Walk me through it.”

“We were heading out here on a routine check on Mr Lippencott. Soon as we pulled up, he came flying out of his house waving that old shotgun of his around, screaming about his animals. Took a while to calm him down but he finally showed us the barn and the field.”

Nicole looked towards the old weather-beaten building as Liu swallowed hard. Whatever had happened in there, she knew it was bad by the look on her face and those of the officers near it. “Go on.”

“We were just heading out when that thing came out of nowhere and bit JD. It all feels a blur after that.”

“Take your time.”

“I shot at it. Emptied a clip into its back as it chewed on JD but it didn’t even flinch until Mr Lippencott shot it. Then it ran off for a bit but we didn’t even get the chance to get to safety before it came back. I rolled JD under the cruiser and managed to get a call off but it reached under and ripped it away. I guess JD lost his when he was attacked. Was there something I missed, Sheriff? Something more I should have done? There must be—”

“Liu. Hey,” Nicole lay a hand on her shoulder, stilling the jittering that was threatening to take over her body. “You saved JD and you stayed alive. That is all anyone could ask of you. Not like anything like that thing is covered in the academy… even for a place as wild as Purgatory.”

“It is pretty wild,” she chuckled wryly. “For all that it’s still better than anywhere else that was offered to me. And, I kind of love this crazy place and all its challenges.”

“There ya go,” Nicole smiled. “Once they’ve got JD ready to go, catch a ride back with them and get checked out. Then—”

“Write everything up while it’s still fresh in my mind.”

“And—”

“Report in with the shrink.”

“I was going to suggest getting a good nights sleep but, yeah, reporting in with her is mandatory.” Nicole patted Liu on the shoulder, commiserating with her.

“Aw man!”

As Liu made her way back to the ambulance where they were busy making sure JD was stable enough to move, Nicole walked in the opposite direction over the dusty earth towards the barn. A forensics team were waiting outside, their white protective overalls crinkling as they shuffled around and made room for her. Plucking a pair of gloves out of a waiting box, Nicole worked her hands into them and pushed open the door.

The scent of blood and death was heavier in there, clinging to the motes of dust in the air and seeping into the very fabric of the building and the ground it lay on.

They had worked with Bill over the years so that, despite the exterior of the building, the insides were good for the animals. Stalls were secure. Gaps in the walls fixed.

And it had all been destroyed.

Whether that was at the hands of the creature itself or by the animals now dead on the floor when they had panicked, that was almost impossible to tell at a glance.

Making her way carefully around so as not to disturb anything that might be important, Nicole crouched down beside the slaughtered remains of one of Bill’s few remaining cows.

“There’s no blood.”

“Jesus! Waverly!” With a deft shuffle, Nicole somehow managed to _not_ end up on her ass.

“Why is there so little blood?”

“How fast did you drive?”

“Fast enough… though, I’m not sure Lena agrees with that.”

“I don’t,” Lena punctuated her statement with a sharp rise of an eyebrow and a quick snap of the gloves she had just put on. And, it was _definitely_ worth the sting across her wrists to see Waverly jump at the sound. “I realised something after you had— Waverly is right, there isn’t enough blood,” she stated as she looked around at the ground around the bodies. “What did this?”

Realising that she might as well go with the flow rather than fight against their indomitable spirits combined against her, Nicole quickly filled them in on what had happened.

“The physical description sounds similar to an alien I saw in the DEO’s database when I hacked it last— I mean, when I— Oh hell, I hacked it! They were keeping things from me and I was pissed off at them. But, anyway, the description sounds like them but not the abilities.”

“We get some unusual things here but, nothing like that, and nothing that smells the same as the portals. Whatever it is I think it came through from your Earth or maybe just an Earth different than this. I do wonder about the lack of blood though…” her voice trailing off, Nicole probed at the ragged wound on the cow's throat.

“Bloodsucking aliens?”

“That is a scary thought given how much it drank, Waves. I guess we _should_ be thankful that it has only killed animals but somehow I don’t feel very thankful. Oh, you said you realised something, Lena?”

“Yes! There was a reading on the scanner that reminded me of when we first came across Mr Lippencott the other day. Remember the streak of energy we saw that followed the road? There was a similar one earlier that I only realised after you had gone, that it must have been following the road. Which makes two such phenomena happening around Mr Lippencott.”

“In which case, I think it’s about time I- we,” she quickly amended with a sigh as both women narrowed their eyes at her. “I think _we_ should have a word with him.”

**********

“I swear, I thought it was dead!”

Nicole almost took a step back into Waverly and Lena as Bill rushed her as soon as the door opened. “What?”

“Oh, hi there, Waverly.”

“How are you doing, Mr Lippencott?”

“Waves.”

“Sorry, just being polite.”

“Take a seat, Bill. Time for you to talk.” He relented with a sigh and sat back down in the chair he had been in before, his shoulders slumped. “What happened?”

“I found that thing bleeding at the side of the road that day you pulled me over.”

“You had it in the back of your trailer. Fuck, Bill. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I— It was hurt, begged me not to tell anyone. Something about the DEO?” he glanced up at the three women, begging for understanding.

Nicole looked in Lena’s direction at the familiar name that came from a place that was not of that Earth. There was a flair of understanding in her green eyes as she looked at Bill. A faraway glance that told Nicole all she needed to know that the DEO, while it did good, wasn’t always known for it amongst the aliens.

But…

If they were of that Earth, Bill’s actions might have been commendable for protecting the aliens.

But…

“We’re not the DEO it was afraid of, Bill. You _know_ we would have helped, right?” Waverly challenged him.

“Yeah— yes?”

“Then why?”

“It passed away that night. Blood loss I think and… I—” he buried his face in his hands in shame. “It was like nothing I’d seen before and I thought… I thought I could… I thought I could sell its body,” he finished in a small voice.

“Damn it!” Nicole pinched the bridge of her nose harshly. “Why in the hell, Bill? What has anyone ever done that you think these stupid schemes are the way? Mother fucker!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Bill, you said it was bleeding… where from?” Waverly questioned softly of the trembling man.

“Puncture wounds on the neck.”

“Nicole. Fog? Yeah, not pink I know but still… Fog? Puncture wounds too? Maybe vampire aliens _can_ be a thing?”

“That is still a terrifying thought, Waves.”

“Yeah. But knowing is part of the battle though… right?”

“I hope so, Waves. I really do.”

**********

## National City

“Supergirl!”

Alex huffed in frustration and clutched her tablet tighter as Barry rushed up the side of the building through the balcony entrance and into the DEO command centre with no regard or concern about the destruction he wrought upon the lives around him with his speed. Before she could comment or admonish him, Kara rushed in at full speed from the other side and _literally_ took her breath away and left her gasping as she skidded to a halt in front of Barry before the call of her name had faded.

“What’s wrong?”

“Cisco managed to make sense of the readings I sent him to tell which Earth it was that Midnight’s portal opened up to.”

“Really!?”

“The most likely one anyway,” he admitted.

“Which one? When can we go get Lena?”

“It’s Earth 616. I’ve never been there so I don’t know anything about it.”

Planting her hands upon her hips, Alex fixed him with a look. “Why do I sense the other shoe waiting to drop, Barry?”

“It’s not an easy Earth to travel too.”

“Midnight managed it. She sent Lena there, Barry.”

“It’s not impossible, Kara. Just _not_ easy.”

“I don’t care, Barry! I need to get Lena back! I have to. And, if you can’t get me there I will make Midnight send me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN - Earth 616 is actually a Marvel comics thing (I always prefered Marvel comics to DC hence the Rogue part of my name). Earth 616 is to Marvel as Earth 1 is to DC in that it is their main universe.
> 
> AN2 - I do not know any of the aliens in the Supergirl universe but if you would imagine a creature that kind of looks like one of the aliens from V (the 80's version) had a baby with Voldermort and grew a few extra limbs.


	9. Chapter 9

## Purgatory

Alex Danvers had experienced many things in her life. Things that would turn most people grey. Things that had turned her towards losing herself in alcohol more than she would like. But, it all seemed to pale right then to the wave of nausea that had her staggering and falling to her hands and knees. Her gloved hands scrambled at the dirt, her bare fingers digging into the sparse tufts of grass and leaves in an effort to anchor herself, while she tried to remember how to do things that usually came instinctively like breathing, seeing, and not throwing up a year's worth of stomach contents upon the ground that did not belong to her own Earth.

She focussed on the feel of Kara’s hand and voice as she rubbed soothing circles on her back and tried not to feel just a touch resentful for her little sister's Kryptonian physiology that allowed her to still be upright.

“When- when we get back… remind me to shoot Barry.” Spitting the stale taste of the coffee she’d had at breakfast out into the dirt, Alex wiped the back of her trembling hand across her mouth and allowed Kara to help her to at least sit upright.

“Yeah, that was bad,” Kara grimaced in sympathy and fiddled impatiently with her glasses out of habit. She sympathised with Alex’s reaction. She was even worried about her. But. She ached to just whip off her glasses and take to the skies so she could find Lena.

Lena.

Her heart swooped, swelled and ached with the thought of her. Need and worry crashing within her.

“Nu huh. Don’t you dare take off or try anything ‘super’.”

“What? I wasn’t going to,” Kara denied unconvincingly.

“Yeah, you were,” Alex gave Kara’s shoulder a tender squeeze. “I know you’re worried, Kara but from what they found out, this Earth doesn’t have super’s flying around. We need to take it easy.”

“But, what about what Midnight showed us? Lena could be in danger right now, Alex!” Kara waved her hands around in anxious emphasis of the dire situation.

Alex simply gripped Kara’s shoulder tighter, willing her to hold herself together knowing she didn’t stand a chance on any Earth of stopping her if she chose to take off. She wracked her mind for something comforting to say but nausea and the simple fact that she drew a blank when it came to their friend that managed to step into the middle of every dangerous situation around either by virtue of her ‘quarterly’ assassination attempts or design. If anyone was going to be okay though, Alex knew it was going to be Lena. It had to be. Anything less was unacceptable to her as a friend of the brilliant CEO and as sister to the woman that would crumble apart if she lost her.

“We take this slowly, Kara. Not sure what went on with that portal but I feel like I left a few body parts in different multiverses on the way through.”

“Yeah, that was rough.”

“Understatement,” Alex snorted as she finally staggered up to her feet and brushed dirt and grass off her knees and hands. “We need to figure out where we are, then where Lena is, then we can get out of here and deal with the ‘crisis’.”

“About that,” Kara grimaced as Alex went instantly stiff and into a state of high alert at her words.

“About what?”

“Good news… I know exactly where we are. Seven miles outside of a place called Purgatory.”

“Purgatory? Well, that’s not comforting. Hey, how do you know how far? Some kind of new super GSP powers just kicked in cause we’re on a different Earth?”

“That actually would be a cool thing to have,” Kara sighed. “Have you any idea how different the city looks from the sky? Not like it has place and street names on it like _Google Maps_ does.”

“Kara, focus.”

“Right!” Placing her hands on Alex’s shoulders, Kara turned her around slowly so as not to exasperate the nausea that still had her looking pallid. “That’s how I know,” she nodded towards the huge Welcome to Purgatory sign they had landed at the base of.

“Yeah, that is kind of a giveaway, huh?”

“A definite sign.”

“No, no puns of any kind! My stomach is nowhere near settled enough for bad puns, Kar.” Kara gave a soft murmur of sympathy and started rubbing her stomach in circles. Before Alex could decide if she wanted to admonish her for ruining her badass reputation with her softness or melt into her touch… something niggled at her mind. She stood there, mostly, her mind running over and over Kara’s words and the inflexion in her voice. Her ‘about that’ had been for more than the name of the town they were near!

“Kara…” tangling her fingers in the front of her sister’s button-up, Alex tugged her closer. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Erm. It can wait! Don’t want to upset your tummy any more than it already is.”

“Kara!”

Kara held out her left hand, unfurling her fingers to show the interdimensional extrapolator they had used to get there.

“You broke it?”

“What? No! It kind of fizzled and sparked on the way through,” Kara explained with a sad look at the small device that kind of looked like a delicate, fancy, fidget spinner.

“We’re trapped!”

“No! Well, yes. But Lena will be able to repair it, you’ll see.”

Alex shook her head at Kara’s unshakable faith in Lena even as she admitted to herself that she hoped it wasn’t unfounded. “I guess we better go find her then. Are you sure you didn’t break it?” she questioned with a narrowed gaze fixed on Kara as her sister grinned and bounced up and down on her toes.

“Why would I do that?”

Alex satisfied herself with a telling eye roll directed at Kara’s back as her sister studied the landscape they had found themselves in and kept the, ‘oh, to get to spend more time with Lena,’ she really wanted to give, to herself. Really, Kara and Lena were both useless when it came to each other and what they meant and felt for each other.

Kara still struggled with many things human with her formative years been lived on a planet that treated relationships differently and then been closeted away for her own safety. And Lena had grown up in the ‘care’ of the Luthor’s… Which was enough for anyone that knew of them to know that it was an all-round miserable and cold upbringing, lacking in any form of love or encouragement unless your name was Lex.

They were from different worlds, different upbringings. But they gravitated towards each other against all the odds with an inevitability that had Jess, Nia and Vasquez running a combined betting pool in L-Corp, CatCo _and_ the DEO as to when they would finally stop dancing and circling around each other and finally collide.

Alex wasn’t more sure if she was more horrified that there was a betting pool, that most of the people didn’t know that Kara was Supergirl so they were betting on one or the other, or that apparently her gaydar was still so new that she hadn’t seen how close they were getting until she had heard Kelly and Nia, cooing over the ‘heart eyes’ looks that had apparently been giving each other and they had barely known Kara and Lena at the time!

She wondered what had changed? Where all the lovelorn looks had gone? What had changed for Lena to make her pull away?

“Seeing as you won’t let me fly, you ready to start walking or do you want me to carry you?”

“I can walk! You are not carrying me bridle style or tossing me over your shoulder!” Forcing her spine straight, Alex started walking determinedly down the almost eerily empty road, her combat boots striking with a solid beat with each long stride.

Grinning, Kara skipped a couple of steps and fell into line with her sister. “Actually I was thinking you could hop up on my back and I could piggyback you there.”

“Absolutely not, Kara! I’m a grown woman and the Director of the DEO!” Lengthening her stride, her gaze warily fixed upon a giant ass moose that was watching them with an air of disinterest a little ways back from the road, Alex counted off her steps and the seconds to judge Kara’s mood. ‘…eight… nine…’

Tipping back her head, Kara looked up enviously at the mountainous white clouds sliding across the blue sky. She wanted to be up there with them, darting in and out of their cool vapours and soaking in the warmth of the sun as she tuned her ears into the beat of this new Earth in search of the heartbeat she knew as well as her own or Alex’s. “Have you any idea how slow it is trying to stick to a human pace when I could fly around the Earth a couple of times just in the time it would take to get there?”

At any other time, Alex would call Kara out on her behaviour but she knew she was her way of coping with her worry so she patted Kara on the shoulder and rolled her eyes fondly at the whiney note in Kara’s voice.

It was going to be a long walk!

But, Alex was up for it. Physically. Mentally. And in any other way that would help her beloved sister and her wayward friend.

**********

Despite the veritable mountain of paperwork piled up on her desk, Nicole smiled as she leaned back in her chair, instinctively adjusting her weight to compensate for the slightly wonky wheel that tilted her to the left. Rolling her pen between her fingers, she let the background chatter of the bullpen and the building beyond wash over her as Waverly filled her mind with all the latest Purgatprian gossip she was picking up while working a shift at Shortys to allow the man himself to actually take a break from the bar.

** _“Waves, there’s no way a tomato can get that big!”_ **

** _“I swear! That’s what Gus says. She showed me a photo of Curtis and Trickett holding it.”_ **

** _“I don’t suppose our gnome friend has let on as to what they did to Bunny Loblaw? I still expect to see her leering at me from a bush when I’m on patrol.”_ **

** _“Wynonna thinks they crushed her up and used her ceramic remains to fertilize Curtis’ tomatoes.”_ **

**_“Eww! Waves! Now I’m never gonna be able to eat them ever again!”_** Nicole lamented as Waverly’s laughter filled her mind and body like a physical touch that warmed her and filled her with joy despite the macabre conversation.

As closely as they were connected, Nicole felt it the very second that Waverly’s mood went from playful and relaxed to curious as the door to the bar swung open, and then cautious as strangers entered. Nicole could smell them clearly through Waverly’s nose and her own. That unique scent fresh from Lena’s Earth clinging to them.

Before she was even aware of making a decision or of moving, Nicole was out of her seat and moving through the bullpen past her busy officers.

** _“Waves—”_ **

** _“I know. But, I don’t think these are bad guys, Nicole.”_ **

Gently pressing down on the flood of emotions coming from Nicole, Waverly smiled warmly at the two strangers cautiously looking around as they moved up to the bar. The blonde looked like she was about to vibrate out of her own body as her blue eyes darted from person to person around the bar, her neck craning as though searching for someone, while the other woman was holding herself with an almost military precision that seemed to be holding every strand of her dark red hair perfectly in place too.

“Welcome to Shortys, can I get you both a drink?”

The blondes head whipped around and she looked ready to burst out a question but a subtle nudge and a glance from the other woman and her mouth slamming shut, her lips pursing into a pout as she took over and ordered a couple of drinks. As they retreated over to a quiet table well away from the pool table where the York brothers were bickering over a game, Waverly put the money they had paid with over to one side where the notes with the unknown presidents wouldn’t find their way into circulation.

There was something about them, an air that said they knew perfectly well that they weren’t on their own Earth, but, just in case, Waverly didn’t want to blurt anything out that might scare them. Especially not the redhead as she could smell the weapons and gunpowder ingrained into her clothing, her skin and she was betting the very fabric of her soul.

The blonde woman confused Waverly’s senses. On the surface, what Waverly could see, she was just a normal woman that shone with a bubbly goodness as bright as the sun. Beneath that, every other sense was screaming at Waverly about the steely shadow that lurked behind her eyes that screamed that she had seen as much, if not more, than her obviously military companion.

Dragged from her contemplation by the sound of the door swinging open again, Waverly glance towards to expecting to feel and see Nicole arriving but instead it was Doc that strode in that easy way he had. He winked as he tipped the brim of his hat at her in passing. She thought he might be going to confront the two strangers in their midsts but he moved around their table to where Wynonna and Dolls were waiting and greeted them both with deep, lingering kisses and hushed whispers that were too quiet even for Waverly to catch.

The two strangers watched while trying to act as though they weren’t paying attention to what was going on just a couple of table away from them. Shock stole briefly across their faces and Waverly wondered if they were going to have a problem with them but it actually seemed to loosen them up and the redhead sank back into the curved back of the old wooden chair with a smile on her face as though she like she felt she’d come home.

**********

“God, I wish Kelly could have come with us,” Alex sighed around the lip of her bottle of beer and took a swig. It wasn’t the best beer in the world and it wasn’t the worst, but right then in that most unusual of places, it tasted like the finest drink brewed by the gods.

“Hmm, why?”

“Are you kidding me? Look at them,” she gestured around them with a quick jerk or her chin to indicate everyone but mostly the three they had both seen. “Even in the most progressive of places Kelly and I have to look around before holding hands or kissing. Have you any idea how painful that is? Having to wonder every time we go out if just a look or touch with my girlfriend will end with me having to defend our rights or our lives?”

“That’s—” Kara’s hand tightened around the neck of her beer bottle, her grip controlled just shy of crumbling it to dust as she struggled with the knowledge that her sister and many others still faced such hatred because of who they loved.

“Yeah. I know,” Alex patted Kara’s hand at the sadness wrapped up in that single word. With a squeeze, she urged Kara to release her grip before she broke anything and gave them away. “Things are getting better but sometimes it feels like one step forward by the community leads to a pushback that takes us back three steps. Look at them here though…” she nodded once more to where the two men and the woman were sitting, their body language screaming of a familiarity that was very, _very_ intimate with how they were touching and leaning into each other, and not one person in the bar that was ingrained with the scent of booze, smoke, and the echo of weekly bar brawls and a fair number of gunshots going by the marks in the wood that no amount of stain had erased, was acting as though it wasn’t anything they hadn’t seen a million times before. “Such a small town. You would think the worst of a place like this and yet—”

Alex broke off, her attention caught by the opening of the saloon door once more and the arrival of a redhead in uniform. The woman was young and slender, her body moving with an easy grace. Their eyes met briefly across the width of the room and something electric shot up Alex’s spine with that simple glance, a fissure of warning that had her hair standing up and her eyes taking in everyone in the bar even though she couldn’t work out why other than the innate feeling that someone… some_thing_ very dangerous had just walked in. Once it was realized though, she could see the potential for danger all around them.

**********

Nicole’s quick appraisal of the unknown couple was interrupted by a gesture from Waverly. A finger crooked in an invitation that pulled her towards the high surface of the bar. She was sure that the ancient piece of timber that made up the worn but highly polished surface had seen a lot of things over the years but she knew for a fact there was nothing more perfect and beautiful than the sight of Waverly’s smile as she leaned over the bar, tangled her fingers in her uniform shirt and used it to pull her closer for a kiss that somehow managed to be soft and gentle and deeply passionate all at the same time.

Her breath left her on a sigh, her lips chasing after Waverly’s kiss swollen ones as her teasing Omega drew back with a smile on her lips and a twinkle in her hazel eyes.

“You, are very distracting, baby. Such a bad girl.”

“Well, maybe you should do something about that later.” Biting her lip, Waverly teased the tips of her fingers slowly down over the soft fabric of Nicole’s shirt, smoothing out the creases her restless fingers had put in it. “Fancy a drink, Sheriff?”

“Cappuccino to go?”

“Does this look like a coffee shop, Haughtshot?!” Wynonna called out playfully. Making her way over to the bar, she propped her ass up on one of the stools and bumped her shoulder into Nicole’s only slightly by accident as she angled her body so she could study the two newcomers.

“Fine, I’ll have a beer please, Waves.”

“And I will have this!” Leaning over the bar, Wynonna liberated a bottle of the good whiskey she knew was kept out of her sight only to pout as Waverly smoothly snatched it back.

“Not until you’ve cleared up your tab, Wynonna.” Ignoring her sister’s exaggerated whine, Waverly gave the dodgy beer tap a glower and a firm tap to stop it from spluttering and spraying before filling up a glass for Nicole.

** _“I have a feeling about our two guests. One of them anyway.”_ **

** _“Oh?”_ **

** _“Blonde. Blue eyes. Walking ball of sunshine and hope. A golden retriever in human form… Or what passes for a human form. Sound familiar?”_ **

“I hate it when you two do… that.” Wynonna waved her fingers between them. “I think I can guess what you’re talking about though,” she gestured wildly with her eyebrows towards the two strangers.

“Mhm,” Nicole hummed her agreement as she brought the chilled glass to her lips and took a sip.

“Hey, where is my wife anyway?”

Choking around the foamy head of her beer and Wynonna’s words, Nicole glanced around and slapped at her shoulder. “I wish you wouldn’t call Lena that,” she hissed as quietly as she could but noticed that the blonde popped up in her seat like she had yelled Lena’s name in her ear. “Every time you do that I expect to hear a scream as Jas sinks her teeth in again.”

“Me too,” Wynonna grimaced. “You didn’t answer my question though, Red.”

“She’s with Kate.”

“Kate!? Why in the hell would you leave her with that bloodsucker?”

“Hey, Kate is perfectly fine.”

“I don’t trust her!”

“Just because she made a move on Doc before she knew you were together.”

** _“Blondie perked right up then, huh?”_ **

** _“Yes, she did.”_ **

** _“How do you want to play this out then?”_ **

** _“Well, I am Sheriff. I think a few friendly questions are in order while you head over and give Lena a heads-up. Give her the chance to look them over and make sure they are who we think they are.”_ **

It was a plan. A good plan. But it failed before Nicole could even take more than a step towards the pair as the blonde woman suddenly stood up, an eager expression on her face as she rushed towards the door with more speed than was humanly possible and even her senses were almost overwhelmed by it. She didn’t need to guess as to what had made her move as she caught Lena’s scent as she stepped out of the warded protection of Kate’s shop at the same time as the blonde woman, Kara she was betting, shouted her name and waved eagerly.

“Kara!?”

Lena froze, her feet becoming glued to the ground in shock as she saw Kara rushing out of Shortys. She had dreamed of that moment happening thousands of different ways… well, twenty-five different ways. But now that it was happening, assuming she wasn’t in the midst of a fever or dream, she couldn’t move.

Not that she had to.

Kara’s arms were suddenly around her, sweeping her up into a fierce embrace and she fell into it, tears pricking her eyes as she melted into the warmth and strength of her body.

“What? How? How did you get here?”

“Golly! We’ve been searching for you for so long, Lena! A friend of mine, Barry, he was able to get us here.”

“Barry?”

“Yes. You probably heard of him… he was the speedster Cat Grant named that worked with Supergirl the year before you moved to National City… Lena?” Kara stepped forward, a frown creasing her brow as Lena stepped away from her, her expression becoming cold and hard as she put distance between them.

“Supergirl, huh?” Lena carefully crossed her arms together, holding her anger and frustration at Kara’s continued lies and evasion close. “You know, I’m surprised you came instead of her. Seems a dangerous thing to do, don’t you think, sending a reporter to a different Earth?”

“I—” Kara’s mind screamed at her to open her mouth and just tell Lena the truth but fear kept her mouth stubbornly shut, choking the words off at the back of her throat. She was scared. Terrified. The fear that she would lose Lena with the truth warring against the knowledge that silence would have the same outcome. “It—”

“It what, Kara?”

Seeking comfort from the familiar, Kara looked at the dusty road beneath her feet rather than the pain and hatred in Lena’s eyes. The sun beat down upon her bowed head, pouring its strength into her. She was Kara Zor-El and she owed Lena the truth.

“Lena…” taking a deep, fortifying breath, Kara lifted her head, her hand raising towards her glasses ready to finally take off her disguise and let truth either set them free or bring everything crashing down.

The hot tears filling her eyes blurred and fragmented the beauty of Lena’s face into a million glistening jewels but it was the thing suddenly rising up behind her like a nightmare version of the demons that inhabited the Dark Valley, Juru that had Lena’s name ripping out of her in a scream of warning as she reached across the gap between them to protect her as the creature slashed down with bared, razor-sharp talons.

“Lena!”

**********

Nicole’s shout of warning echoed Kara’s as she set off at a dead sprint. The stretch of road that lay between them was short but felt like a million miles as she shifted in mid-stride, her claws digging through the tarmac for purchases as she tried to outrun the descent of claws that glinted like shards of polished metal in the sun as they raked towards Lena’s spine.

They cleaved a path, carving through clothing and flesh as they dug for bone but the cry of pain that bled into the air wasn’t Lena’s as Kara had spun them around and placed her into their path.

“Kara! DEO! Freeze!”

Teeth bared and gritted, Nicole soared over them as the Vampiric alien reacted to the other woman’s authoritative bellow and tried to fly out of the path of the weapon bared and pointed at it. Claws digging through the billowing black smoke that surrounded it, Nicole found something to hold on to. Wrapping her hands around it, she slammed it down onto the road with enough force to send a spiders web of cracks racing outwards from the point of impact.

The alien hissed and roared, its pointed teeth flashing and snapping at her as its eyes rolled wildly in its head as booted feet thudded towards them. From the corner of her eye, Nicole saw the other woman from Lena’s world racing towards them with a strange-looking gun clasped securely in her hand and a deadly look in her eyes.

DEO.

The thing the alien had feared above everything when Bill had found it.

“Stay back!” Nicole ordered sharply but even though she baulked as she looked at her, it didn’t slow her down and the alien writhed all the more, its body twisting and bucking past a point that would have snapped human bones.

“Settle down! We can—”

Claws raked across her cheek and muzzle, leaving paths of molten agony that ate into her like lava in their wake. The startled loosening of her grip resulting in further pain as the alien lashed out again, pushing her back as its claws slashed across her shoulder and chest as it finally managed to free itself and flee with at least a dozen of the pack chasing after it with Wynonna leading the charge.

“God damn motherfucker!” Nicole slapped her hand against the ground in frustration.

“Nicole!” Waverly ran across the road and reached for her Alpha.

“Careful,” Nicole gently caught her by the wrists before her fingers could brush against the wounds. “That felt like poison,” she warned as Waverly helped her to her feet and they made their way over to check on Lena and Kara.

“You okay?”

“I am. Kara took the blow instead,” Lena huffed as she tried to prop Kara up as she sagged against her like a blonde, overly tall, two-ton sack of wobbly jello.

“Big puppy.” Pain pulled the words out of Kara in a mumble as she looked at the furry creature speaking to them. It looked like the creature in the vision that Midnight had delighted in showing her but the reality was softspoken and softer of touch as it… she took her weight and gently supported her without jostling the wounds on her back.

“Not quite,” Waverly chuckled at Nicole’s soft pout. “Just relax and we’ll get your wounds cleaned up and checked out.”

“How are you hurt, you’re supposed to be invulnerable?”

“Wait,” eyes flying wide, Alex grasped Lena’s forearm. “You know?”

“That she’s Supergirl?” Lena shot Alex a look. She would have crossed her arms and given her the full weight of her very best Luthor glower but she was too worried about Kara, and Kara hadn’t let go of her hand even as Nicole carried her down the street to the Sheriff’s department and, after quickly shifting form again, placed her face down on the couch in her office. “Yes, you can thank my brother for letting that Kryptonian cat out of the bag after I shot him in the chest.”

“No, no. I was the one that killed him, Lena, not you. I saw him fall,” Kara moaned into the fabric of the cushion beneath her head as her attempt to get closer to Lena opened up fresh paths of pain.

Caving to a gentle tug, Lena moved closer until she was kneeling beside Kara’s head. With care, she ran her fingers through Kara’s bangs and swept the sweat-soaked strands back. “But you didn’t see him land, did you? He teleported himself to safety and I knew just where he would be.” Lena’s fist clenched, the weight of the gun in her hand a memory she couldn’t shake. “My brother was a snake, a vile poisonous snake. I knew he would have a plan in place to escape. Just as I knew that unless I stopped him, he wouldn’t stop until he had killed Supergirl… even at the cost of my best friend… the cost of our friends,” she amended with a blush at the knowing look in Alex’s eyes as she glanced up from gently peeling the fabric of Kara’s blood-soaked clothing away from the deep, ragged wounds on her back. “So I pulled the trigger and killed him. And with his last breath, he made sure I knew just how much of a fool I had been and just how much my friends had all been lying to me all these years.”

Gritting her teeth against the pain, Kara pushed herself upright and, despite Alex’s attempts to push her back down, she climbed shakily to her feet, pulling Lena with her. “Could we have a minute?”

“Kara—”

“Please, Alex. Just a minute.”

“Okay. Fine. Just a minute,” she warned her sister sternly. Giving Lena an even harder stare, she left the room with the others.

As the door shut behind them, Kara looked down at Lena’s hands resting within her own. What she was about to say was pretty much redundant now that Lena already knew but it felt like it had been welling up inside her for so many years that she needed to get it out.

“Lena. I’m Supergirl. I’ve always been Supergirl,” she gently squeezed Lena’s hands, silently begging for her to let her speak. “I should have told you so long ago. I know that. But I just kept making excuses because you’ve been hurt so many times and… I convinced myself that I was protecting you. And then one day you were so angry with me, with Supergirl. But you still loved Kara. I just kept thinking that if I could be Kara, _just_ Kara, I could keep you as a friend. I was selfish and scared, and I didn’t want to lose you, so I kept pretending. And I never stopped. Every time I kept my secret from you, I wasn’t protecting you, I was hurting you just like everyone else and I am so, so sorry. I am so sorry.”

A broken sob clawed its way out of her mouth as the warmth of Lena’s hands left hers but instead of a slap or the slamming of a door as Lena stormed out, she felt the tender brush of her hands against her face as Lena brushed aside the tears Kara hadn’t even been aware were spilling freely from her eyes.

“We— we have a lot to talk about and work through, Kara. But, thank you for telling me.”

“I should have been the one to tell you, not Lex.”

“That is in the past. Which is something Luthor’s sometimes struggle to let go of,” Lena admitted with a grimace. “But I want to try with you. Our friendship is worth that, don’t you think?”

“I do,” Kara smiled brightly, fakely, as the word claim of friendship settled hollowly within her. “There is probably something else I should admit then,” she sucked in an even deeper breath than before, nerves making her knees weak and the room spin. “I— I— ohh—”

“Kara!” Lena found herself suddenly struggling to hold up the surprisingly heavy weight of Kara’s body as her eyes rolled back in her head and she toppled forward. “Help! Kara! Kara! Damn it…” bracing herself, Lena managed to at least get the couch under them before Kara landed right over her, her blonde hair cascading across Lena’s face in a golden cloud that thankfully hid her blush from sight from the others as Kara mumbled slowly against her ear before they could get her out from under her dead weight.

“I. Love. You. Lena.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN - No Kryptonians were permanently damaged (until Jas gets ahold of Kara), or CEO's squished by falling Kryptonians in the making of this chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

When Kara had been younger, before she had been placed in the pod that had taken her away from Krypton and eventually landed her on Earth, she had been a night owl and had clung to sleep and her bed in the morning. Even when she was forced to go to bed at a reasonable time, she had always wanted just a couple more minutes that stretched out into hours if she could get away with it to enjoy the comfort of her bed. When she had arrived on Earth though and found herself under the rays of the sun that gave her such remarkable powers, staying in bed once the sun rose had become a thing of the past.

The warmth and power of it was like a siren call that pulled her from even the deepest of sleep as it fuelled her in a wave that started at her toes and moved up until it almost felt like the light itself must radiate from her pores.

It had driven Alex crazy to find herself living with a being that, when she wasn’t calling her a glorified plant, she called a cat for how she would find the nearest sunbeam and bask in it each morning. Usually at the expense of Alex’s sleep as she refused to switch beds so Kara could have the one nearest the window.

After donning the cape and the family crest upon her chest and taking to the air as Supergirl, Kara had found there were different ways to wake up. There were the times when her body ached when she woke up but there was a sense of satisfaction for a job well done and then there were times, the worst of which, was when she was forced to wake up under artificial sun lamps at the DEO after taking a beating. When that happened it was a jolt back to consciousness followed by a period of working out just what was going on or what had happened to put her there.

There was that same feeling then, the moments of adjusting and the niggling sensation that she was forgetting something, but Kara felt in no rush to move and kept her eyes shut as she heard the sure and steady beat of Alex’s heart, a familiar rhythm that she had learned and come to trust over the years, and felt the power of the sun sinking into her back and spreading throughout her body even though there was no direct sun lighting trying to pry open her eyes. Feeling safe, she relaxed into the plush mattress beneath her, her fingers curling into the softness of what felt like it might be fur that she was lying face down on.

The sound of Lena’s heart pulled her closer to consciousness, a smile tugging at her lips as she honed in on the familiar cadence. Sleepily, she cracked open her eyes and cheated just a little by using her x-ray vision to look through the walls and watch as Lena entered the room beyond.

She looked… well, she looked gorgeous in a very relaxed way dressed in casual clothing with her dark hair down and curling gently around her shoulders.

“Finally, there’s my wife!”

The playful, feminine voice boomed out, jolting Kara so much she nearly lifted off from the bed. But, it was her words and the sight of a tiny child rushing into the room to be scooped up into Lena’s arms before she could make a beeline to the other woman that had Kara’s heart sinking.

“Whoah, hold on there, Jas.”

“Mama!”

Kara’s heart crashed and burned as she watched the family she wished could have been herself along with Lena and a child.

“Alex, how long was I out for?” Kara whispered brokenly.

“Coming up on five hours. Hey, stay put,” raising from the chair she’d placed near the door to keep vigil from, Alex started across the room. “Let them work on you some more.”

It was only then, belatedly, that Kara was able to place Alex’s voice as coming from across the room, far removed from the hands that were still working gently on her bare back. She lifted her head to turn and look but a strong but gentle hand pressed against her shoulder, easing her back down. And that as much as what was happing outside the room had Kara relenting.

“Wynonna, will you keep it down out here. And stop upsetting, Jasmin!”

As the redheaded sheriff from the bar walked in and took the child, Jasmin, out of Lena’s arms, Kara could see the resemblance between them.

“Aunty Nono’s bad!”

“Yes, she is, Sweetie. Next time I’ll let you chew on her.” Nicole assured her daughter as she nuzzled and kissed her downy soft cheek, soothing her ire with a soft purr that had her glower dimming and her arms unfolding from where they had been wrapped in a huff around her body. “Mama’s got some cookies baking, you wanna go wait on those while we wait to see how Mama Lena’s friend is doing?”

Kara licked her lips at the thought of cookies fresh out of the oven but the fierce glower Jasmin shot in her direction as though she had x-ray vision of her own, had Kara shrinking back.

“Bad lady! Made Mama Lena cry.”

“Oh, Jas,” Lena held her arms open, catching Jasmin as she leapt from Nicole’s arms back into hers. “I was worried for Kara, that’s why I was crying. You’ll like Kara, I promise.” She nudged her nose against Jasmin’s cheek, pulling a sweet giggle from her. “She’s so silly and funny, and so, so brave. She’ll love you as much as I do and I know you’ll love her too.”

Jasmin didn’t look too convinced about that and was still shooting her looks through the solid wall while hugging Lena possessively, but Kara was determined to be all those things and more to win over the little girl that Lena obviously cared about so much.

“How are you feeling?”

Kara looked up, focussing on Alex’s concerned face as she knelt down beside the bed so their faces were on the same level.

“Woozy. But, pretty good. What happened?”

“You can’t remember?”

Kara worried at her bottom lip with her teeth as she cast her mind back and fished around for what she could remember.

“I— I remember talking to Lena. Hey,” she whined as Alex flicked her around the back of her head hard enough to send her hair flying forward into her eyes.

“Sorry, you were getting all gooey-eyed again,” Alex stated, her lips pursed to hold back the comment trying to trip out of her mouth to point out that that was how Kara always got when she thought about Lena.

Kara smoothed her hair back and narrowed her eyes in warning at her sister.

“Anyway, I remember that and then something appearing behind Lena. I pulled her out of the way—”

“And put your back to it.” As short as they were, Alex’s nails bit into her palms as the memory of Kara’s cry of agony ripped through her again.

“Then there was pain. It— it managed to cut me?”

“Yep, sliced your impenetrable Kryptonian hide up as easily as a hot knife through butter.”

Kara placed her hand over Alex’s clenched fist, willing her to relax before she spiralled for what she would see as her failure to protect her. “Hey, I’m going to be okay—”

“You nearly weren’t, Kara. That damned thing, whatever it was, its claws not only managed to get through your skin but they were poisonous. It was bad and I thought I was going to lose my sister. Don’t you _ever_ do that to me again.”

“I’ll try my best but, Alex, you know we’re both the kind to rush in and ask questions later when the people we love are in danger. Rao! I told Lena I love her, didn’t I?”

“You did?”

“You didn’t hear me say it?”

“I was kind of in shock watching my sister bleeding out while a werewolf, an actual honest to fucking god, werewolf saved her ass. A werewolf that you then called a puppy, by the way,” she teased.

Kara blinked as she tried to work out if she was actually stuck in a dream or probably a nightmare seeing as she had quite possibly insulted the woman that had saved her life.

“So you didn’t hear me declare my love for Lena? Alex, do you think Lena heard me say it?”

“Wait! What?” Alex shook her head in bewilderment. “Kara, I just told you that there are werewolves on this Earth and you focus on that?”

“Well,” Kara shrugged as best as she could. “It’s important to me,” she mumbled into the pillow.

“I’m sure it is,” Alex smiled fondly, “focus right now though, yeah?”

“You will find we have more to offer than just werewolves on this Earth,” Clarke chuckled lightly. With a firm hand, she stilled Kara’s attempt to turn over again. “Please, keep still while we finish this.”

“I’m sorry… for moving and for ignoring you there when you’re helping me.”

“You were poisoned quite severely. It is only down to your sister that we were able to come up with a solution that worked in time.”

“She is amazing,” Kara smiled gratefully. Her mind drifted away for a moment before coming back and focussing in on a question. “What was the solution?”

“Plants, sunlight and apparently a healthy dose of magic.”

“I— What? Alex, did you tell everyone I was a plant again?” Kara whined.

“Hey, it worked,” Alex defended herself with a smile at Kara’s quiet huff. “You’ve always been vulnerable to magical attacks and this Earth seems to be full of it.”

“You’ve got the same look on your face Lena gets when she’s trying to work out if we’re kidding her about something,” Nicole smirked as she entered the bedroom with Lena craning her head around her body to get a look at her friend.

“Hey, who wouldn’t think that when you tell them you killed a god?”

“Lena, it was only a demon that _told_ people it was a god. And I only helped kill it.” Nicole rolled her eyes when she realised that Kara and Lena had stopped paying attention to her and were getting lost in each other. “Okay, guess I’ll introduce myself officially later. How’s she doing, Clarke?”

Rather than answer, Clarke gently grasped Nicole’s chin and tilted her head to study the faint lines of pink that were all that remained of Nicole’s wounds. She hummed softly in satisfaction. The vampire alien’s poison had been potent enough that it had caused Nicole to spend longer healing than usual but she was well on the mend. “As good as you now that Rosita and I were finally able to find the right combination of plants to work with her need for the sun so our young friend could absorb energy from it.”

“I will never grow tired of seeing her do that,” Alex whispered in awe as she watched Clarke apply some salve that smelt vaguely of a sun-warmed forest to the now faint wounds upon Kara’s back. Tendrils of light spread in the wake of Clarke’s fingers, knitting together the wound before spreading out and seeping into Kara’s flesh.

If not for her concern about her sister, Alex was almost certain she would be freaking out about the whole werewolf thing… and the alien turned vampire thing. As it was though, everything had been pushed so far beyond the back burner to a place where not even the fact that nymphs were using their powers to manipulate plants and the sun were healing Kara phased her, not so long as they were healing Kara.

That didn’t stop her from eying the redheaded werewolf Sheriff of Purgatory intently though. No matter how softly spoken and pleasant she seemed, Alex could still see the moment she, and a good part of the small town, had changed into monstrous wolf creatures with ease. Moreover, Alex had had her phase of reading and watching all things spooky and supernatural… twice thanks to having to experience it all again with Kara. Like any self-absorbed brat and reluctant eldest sibling, she’d done it to scare Kara but, annoyingly, she’d only managed to scare herself by watching the bad CGI monster movies while Kara had been full of endless questions about the fascinating creatures of Earth.

Really, I was a joy when Kara had discovered Disney movies, and when she had picked the ‘Wizard of Oz’ as her favourite movie of all time and not some slasher/monster flick instead. However, if Kara remembered even a fraction of the questions from her youth, Nicole was going to be in for a rough time once Kara managed to drag her attention away from Lena and stopped looking at her like she had hung the moon and stars.

With only the briefest of glances at Alex, Lena knelt down at the side of the bed so that Kara wouldn’t have to move too much. With trembling fingers, she reached out and gently brushed a strand of golden hair back from her forehead. She’s always equated the warmth she’d felt locked within her hair to be a product of body heat and the ambient temperature of the room she was in but, now she knew better. Body heat might play a part as Kara naturally ran hotter than a human did but what she felt radiating through the silky strands cascading through her fingers, was the warmth and power of the sun.

“How are you feeling, Kara?”

Turning her face, Kara chased the feel of Lena’s hand, pressing against the warmth of her palm before it could retreat… Not that it seemed in any hurry to do so as it lingered there, gently cupping the side of her face.

“I feel better for seeing you.” Tears pricked the back of her eyes as all the anguish she had endured since Lena had vanished before her, washed back over her. “I- I thought I’d lost you when—”

“I know.” Swallowing hard, Lena pressed her forehead against Kara’s in an unexpected move she had learned from being surrounded by very touchy-feely werewolves. An apology was on the tip of her tongue, but, before it could be spoken, Kara’s hand gently cupped the back of her neck, holding her right where she was a moment longer and Lena relaxed into it and drowned in the beautiful blue of Kara’s eye that filled her vision with a look that was so earnest that Lena felt unworthy of it. “I thought I’d lost you too,” she admitted knowing full well, that a lot of that loss was down to months of punishing Kara and her friends with radio silence after Lex had revealed Kara’s secret instead of womaning up and confronting her.

“Are we— are we okay?” Kara questioned softly as Lena drew back seemingly incapable of meeting her eye.

Sighing softly, Lena kept contact between them, her thumb brushing back and forth across the line of Kara’s jaw simply because she couldn’t bear not to touch her. “We still have things to talk about Kara, we don’t get out of that because you threw yourself into harms way again,” she admonished her gently.

“I would do it a million times more to keep you safe, Lena Kieran Luthor.”

“Stop that,” Lena sniffled softly, her eyes growing moist at the burning look in Kara’s eyes.

“Never.” Smiling, Kara edged across the bed, moving as close to Lena as much as she was allowed before pain and tuts of admonishment from Clarke and Alex stilled her.

“I don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t ended up here,” Lena continued. “I was so full of hatred I might have burned the world down just to make you feel the pain I did when I realised you had never trusted me. No,” she placed a finger over the pillowy softness of Kara’s lips before she could open her mouth and defend her like she always did. “Let me get this out. No matter what the reasons, after being betrayed so often in my life I was hurt by what you did Kara. I still am. But… As amazing as this Earth is… and it is,” she smiled fondly at her new, found family that had accepted her with open arms, “all I’ve wanted is to get back to my old life and, believe me, it hasn’t been the quarterly assassination attempts that I’ve been missing,” she chuckled. The finger she had forgotten was still resting on Kara’s lips moved as Kara smiled back and pressed closer in what felt suspiciously like a kiss.

Moving her finger, Lena leaned closer again until she could feel the warmth of Kara’s breath against her lips. “I don’t know what we will be to each other,” after a lifetime in the care of the Luthor’s, Lena wasn’t sure she was worthy of what her heart wanted. “But,” she continued without pause, “I found out what it was like to live a life without you in it in one form or another, Kara Danvers, and it is not something I want to experience again.”

Forgetting just for a moment where she was and the strangeness of everything, which was saying something with some of the things she had seen, Alex shared a smile with the three other women in the room as they watched Kara and Lena pretending the rest of the world didn’t exist. And, maybe for them, it didn’t when the rest of their world was right in front of them.

**********

The background hum of voices pulled Kara out of a sleep she hadn’t been aware of falling into. Pushing up from the mattress, she looked around the room, her eyes desperately searching each corner of the dimly lit room in search of Lena. She was disappointed and a little bit scared to find that she was alone but before fear could take root, she made out the combined beats of Lena and Alex’s hearts and smelled the delicious scent of food that had her stomach growling ferociously and loudly enough to wake the dead on every Earth in the multiverse.

Climbing from the plush bed, Kara was surprised and delighted to find that her body didn’t ache in the slightest and, after finding a mirror and lifting the loose t-shirt she had been clothed in, she found that there wasn’t a mark upon her skin to show for her brush with the being that had attacked them even though the pain from its claws was still very clear in her mind.

Following the call of her stomach and the deliciously familiar scents seeping through to tease her nose, Kara crossed the room and cautiously opened the door and stepped through.

Heads turn and lifted, and eyes filled with curiosity studied her intently but with no ill will as far as Kara could see. Apart that was, from one pair of young eyes that glowered at her balefully from the floor where Jasmin was sitting with a group of children. One of which was the spitting image of Jasmin but looked at her with kinder eyes.

“Twins,” Kara breathed in amazement and delight as her eyes darted between all the children, picking out their siblings.

“Yep. Happens a lot around here, doesn’t it, Red?” Wynonna smirked around the mug she was slurping coffee from.

“Don’t start that again, Earp,” Nicole warned with a soft growl and narrowed eyes. “Would you like a drink before we eat, Kara?”

Kara’s stomach answered with an even more virulent growl. Blushing, Kara felt the need to apologise but her words were cut short by a tugging on the leg of her pants that had her looking down to see the little girl not shooting daggers out of her eyes offering her a cookie.

“Thank you…”

“Melanie, Mel for short,” Nicole supplied. As Kara nibbled voraciously on the cookie, she went around the room, introducing everyone there to her to help her start to catch up with who everyone was and everything that had been happening while she was recovering.

With Melanie sitting on her lap, Kara steadily made her way through a plate full of cookies that Alex brought out from the kitchen as a starter for her while they waited on a delivery from the local Chinese restaurant.

“Potstickers?” Kara inquired hopefully.

“What are potstickers?”

“Don’t be mean, Wynonna,” Lena fired back as Kara’s face fell and she looked actually close to tears at the thought of her favourite food not being on that Earth. “Or should I say, wife?”

Lena smirked as Jas’ attention left Kara and snapped around with laser-like intensity to hone in on Wynonna.

“Hey! No fair, weaponizing the kids!”

“What is it with… that?” Kara waved a hand to indicate the whole situation to avoid saying the ‘W’ word and drawing Jas’ gaze back on her.

“Our daughter has become… attached to Lena. We all have. Jasmin though, she decided to claim Lena as hers first and calls her mama. Wynonna, being an ass, sorry, butthead,” Nicole amended as Waverly’s hazel eyes shot her way in admonishment for cursing, “she decided to call Lena her wife in front of Jas. And, despite being literally chewed on for it, she still persists in tormenting Jas by doing it.”

“What can I say, I like to live dangerously.”

“Then you should try something safer… like skydiving or training with Alexandria.”

“Ignore them,” Waverly advised Kara with a fond eye roll cast in the direction of her sister and her wife. “Believe it or not, they get along just fine when being Alphas doesn’t have they butting heads. Speaking of sisters, yours says you have a high-calorie requirement so, if you want to grab some, it just arrived. Just have as much as you need.”

**********

After months of eating only enough to keep going on her search for Lena, and with Waverly’s assurance to eat what she wanted, Kara made up for lost time and ate her fill for what felt like the first time in her life. For, as much as she loved the food on Earth, and boy did she ever! Finding the time, and money, to eat enough to satisfy her needs and not gross anyone out, was nigh on impossible.

Lena had always been the best about it though, especially as she had been kept in the dark about the reasons and nature behind the needs of Kara’s body.

The first time she had been witness to it had been at Noonan’s when Lena had first let her guard down and allowed her in after first refusing her attempts at friendship. Kara had ordered everything off the appetiser menu ready to ‘share’ with Alex but her sister had let her down leaving Kara with the task of trying to eat everything she needed without being able to disguise the fact that she was eating everything. And then Lena had let down her carefully constructed walls and invited her to eat with her despite the fact that she had already eaten… if the meagre half-eaten plate of greenery could be classed as food and Kara would use her dying breath to say it wasn’t. They had sat and talked between Kara’s ravenous feasting and Lena’s delicate nibbles and Lena had only slightly arched one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows and smiled fondly as she had watched her eat.

That first meal together had provided Kara with an opportunity to get to know Lena better and Kara had grabbed for it with both hands and, typically, a bag of doughnuts or burgers. It was for the greater good though as far as Kara was concerned. For no CEO even half as busy as Lena could be expected to work fuelled by kale salads and caffeine.

Now she had admitted her feelings to herself and Lena though, Kara knew that the food had just been a convenient excuse to get closer to her.

Content. Her stomach full at last, Kara sat back on the couch between Alex and Lena and quietly watched the people around her as they finished up their food at a more sedate pace that was interspaced with lots of laughter that spoke more of family that just friendship. Alex, usually so reserved around new people, was more relaxed than Kara had ever seen her despite been surrounded by the unknown. Though, Kara felt that was largely down to the children as it was difficult to think anything but good about people that all cared about the little ones when they treated them all equally with such obvious love.

The good food and even better company even worked to ease the glower from Jas’ face… until something would remind her and she would narrow her eyes pointedly at her again and Kara was pretty sure Jas stuck her tongue out at her over her shoulder as she took Lena’s hand and led her away for a bedtime story.

“Your rival is adorable,” Alex sniggered quietly, breaking the quietness that had descended over the room now it was just herself and Kara sitting there as Alexandria and Clarke had taken Cole and Madi deeper into the house and the others had all gone outside to one of the many beautiful, rustic homes she had seen on the way in.

“She is,” Kara smiled. She just really needed to work out how to win her over. Somehow, she didn’t think the ability to fly would impress her too much when she felt like her time with Mama Lena was on the line.

Kara didn’t mean to invade Lena’s private time with Jas by using her powers but, after so much time apart, her hearing focussed in on the sound of her heart through the chatter and sounds as the other children were settled into bed too and used the beat to soothe her nerves. Lena’s voice followed easily, luring Kara in. Her accent was even more pronounced than Kara had ever heard it with no one around to judge her for any slips as she chatted with Jasmin and tucked her into her bed. There was a creak and shift of mattress springs and Kara’s imagination filled in the blanks that she refused to let her x-ray vision confirm as Lena sat or lay on the bed and told Jasmin a story and hummed a tune as she soothed her to sleep.

Closing her eyes, Kara relaxed into the gentle infliction of Lena’s voice and dared to dream and imagine.

**********

Smiling softly, Waverly tucked the blanket back around Mel and Jasmin’s shoulders once Jas was done wiggling around to find and claim the pillow Lena had been using. Brushing soft strands of hair back from their foreheads, she pressed soft kisses to them that had her daughters sighing and relaxing into their mattress.

“Don’t know why we thought any of them would be happy in beds of their own,” Nicole smiled as she gazed back one last time at the two occupied beds in the room of four before closing the door behind them. By morning, they would probably all end up in the same bed, cementing Nicole’s belief that they should just save time and put one huge mattress down to cover the whole floor. “Puppy piles are the best,” she stated, echoing what Dom and Kat had stated emphatically one morning.

“Hmm, I much prefer the two wolf, naked version we make though,” Waverly purred seductively, pressing her body against the line of Nicole’s as she slid her hands up along her strong arms and shoulders until her fingers burrowed into the soft warmth of the baby fine hair at the nape of her neck.

“You do, huh?” Dipping her head, Nicole delicately teased Waverly’s and herself with the warmth of her breath and the promise of more. Waverly’s eyes darted between her eyes and her mouth. Desire flooded her eyes and her pupil and iris expanded, flooding the sclera with hazel cut through with the light of the moon as they shifted.

With a growl that echoed through partially changed vocal cords, Nicole relented easily to the pull of Waverly’s fingers and dipped her head and claimed her lips with a deep, passionate kiss as Waverly surged upwards to meet her.

Waverly gasped, her head falling back to thud softly against the wall Nicole had pressed her forcefully against. Her fingers tightened in Nicole’s hair, tugging on the fiery strands, holding on for dear life and attempting to guide at the same time as Nicole’s mouth moved across her jaw. She could feel Nicole’s smile against her flesh and the dance of goosebumps racing down her spine as her teeth dragged and nipped at her before finding the faint divots of her mating bite etched indelibly in her flesh, heart and soul and sank into them.

With a soft cry, she went limp in Nicole’s arms, her body relaxing in contentment and pleasure. The scent, their scent, rose up around them in a fragrant wave of warm vanilla dipped doughnuts and lavender that filled and warmed her.

Waverly tilted her head, giving Nicole better access as she found the marks left upon Nicole’s flesh by her own teeth. Neither of them bit hard enough to break the others skin but satisfied themselves and each other with enough to feel the promise of it until they slowly drew back at the same time.

“I want nothing more than to just lock the rest of the world out and continue this,” Nicole whispered into the fragrant curve of Waverly’s neck, her lips nudging where her teeth had pressed moments before.

“Me too,” Waverly sighed. “Guess we’re not going to get away with that though?”

“Hmm. Probably not.” Nicole smirked and kissed the tip of Waverly’s nose as it crinkled in disappointment. Still grinning, she wrapped her arms around Waverly’s slender waist and pulled her closer into a loving hug. They swayed together, basking in the moment of peace while they had the chance.

“Nicole?”

“Waverly?” Tilting her head, Nicole wondered at what was on Waverly’s mind that had her worrying her lip with her teeth.

“I was wondering.”

“What about, baby?”

“Exactly!”

“Huh—? What?”

“A baby. I was wondering about a baby. If it was time to… try… for another… Maybe?” Her voice trailed off as Nicole’s fingers brushed delicately against her jaw and tenderly hooked beneath her chin to lift her eyes. She’d known in her heart that Nicole wasn’t averse to the idea of more children when the time was right. She knew because she felt the desire echoing unspoken through their bond every time they made love. But, they hadn’t actually discussed it in, for what felt like, forever to know what constituted ‘the right time’.

“You want another baby?”

The softness of Nicole’s brown eyes was more than matched by the spreading joy and wonder on her face that had her mouth curving into a smile that was full of joy and sensual all at the same time. That one glance was enough to have heat blooming through her body and her fingers itching to make short work of her clothing.

“Yes, yes I would. How about you?”

“With how the girls sleep there’s definitely room for more but… Well, we probably should wait… at least until you’re in heat before trying,” she teased, earning herself an eye roll and a poke to her side from her love.

“Nicole. Practice makes perfect.” Waverly reminded her with a tease of lips and a touch that had Nicole’s breath hitching.

“Ahh,” Nicole pretended to ponder Waverly’s suggestion for a second or two. “So, what you’re saying is that we should increase our lovemaking?” Pressing Waverly back against the wall, she smoothly slid her leg between Waverly’s and pressed up with just the right amount of speed and pressure with her thigh. Waverly’s fingers scrambled and dug at her shoulders, yanking her closer into a sudden, inelegantly frenetic, deep kiss that Nicole was loath to break up.

But, break it up she did.

Their bodies brushed and breaths panted together in the space between them with every breath, laced with a thread of a growl of frustration as they heard voices from outside letting them know they were needed.

**********

It was easy to spot the cause of the slight commotion outside by the towering presence of some of the villages more burly guards, including Gustus, that flanked Kate as she talked to Lena. They were there to protect the village, not Kate but the vampire, as usual, somehow managed to make every situation and location look as though she was a Queen about to greet her subjects. It was the bearing of a woman that had over a hundred years to practice slaying a person with a glance.

The fact that at a moment’s notice she could compel a person to love her and do her will, or stand there and offer up their throat for her helped. Nevertheless, Waverly felt sure that the attitude had always been there with Kate even before she could arrive on a wave of sexy pink fog.

** _“I hate Wynonna for calling it that.”_ **

** _“Wynonna did too when she found Kate trying to seduce Doc because he reminded her of an old flame.”_ **

“It is good to see you, Kate.”

“And you, Waverly. Were the guards really necessary though? I am perfectly harmless.”

** _“Wynonna would disagree.”_ **

**_“Nicole.” _**Waverly elbowed her in the side in admonishment.

“You saw what happened in town earlier, Kate. Do you blame them for their caution when we were assured there were no other vampires around and that the one we have welcomed into our town was reformed?”

Kate’s eyes hardened, a fierce look crossing her face before she could hide it or the metallic glint of her teeth as she turned her face away.

“You didn’t know there were more around,” Waverly stated what they could both see in her expression.

“I did not,” Kate growled. “Like you, I was assured there were none or I would have told you. To find out they made a liar of me—” She clenched her fists tightly in an effort to control her fury. “I will stretch the truth occasionally when one of your officers asks me if I know I was speeding but I would never omit something so big. I was horrified when I saw what happened, Lena,” her voice softened and warmed as she clasped the young woman’s hands within hers. “Is your friend okay? I would like to thank her for protecting you. And you for protecting them both, Nicole.”

“Be careful with your touch, Vampire,” Gustus warned gruffly.

“Do not worry, I fear Jasmin’s wrath too much to mess with her Mama Lena,” Kate chuckled softly.

“Our daughter will be getting a big head,” Nicole grumbled with a fond shake of her head. “And yes, Lena’s ‘friend’,” she stretched the word out as Lena blushed and ducked her head, “is fine if you want to join us inside.”

“Who am I to refuse the offer to meet Lena’s ‘friend’.” Kate pulled the word out even longer than Nicole had, a smile breaking across her face as Lena blushed all the more for it.

“You two behave,” Waverly admonished them. “Lena’s allowed to have a ‘friend’ without you acting like giggly schoolkids over it.”

Closing her eyes against the sight of her tormenters, Lena pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a deep sigh. “I’m surrounded by idiots,” she huffed.

**********

A silence had fallen over the room that, while not unfriendly, was cold, tense and noticeable without the kids there to break it up.

Alex and Alexandria seemed to be the main points of tension as both women were standing at opposite ends of the room with tension flowing out of them in palpable waves.

Nicole looked around the room trying to work out what had happened but her only answer was a gesture off Wynonna to indicate fangs. It was answer enough though as Alexandria tolerated Kate but tolerating didn’t mean she liked having a vampire in her village.

Kara’s face lit up with a smile that lit the whole room as soon as she caught sight of Lena. She looked barely able to restrain herself from jumping up to great her like an excitable puppy. If she even noticed that there was anyone else entering beside Lena it wasn’t until Waverly took it upon herself to introduce Kate to her and Alex that she looked away from her intense study of Lena’s eyes that had Nicole in no doubt that Kara knew every fleck of colour within them and probably had individually named them too.

Lena’s presence worked on Alex too. Though, not in the same way but at least a familiar face had her relaxing enough to where she was able to reclaim a place on the couch beside her sister. At least until she heard that Kate was a vampire.

“I’m sorry… What?!” Alex willed her jaw to close as she gawped at the stunning woman and tried to equate what she was seeing before her with what had attacked Kara and Lena earlier.

“There are several forms of vampires, Agent Danvers,” Alexandria gritted out. “Some are monstrous and others use seduction to get what they want. All of them are dangerous.”

“I won’t deny any of that,” Kate nodded. “But… if I could be allowed to point out. There are as many dark stories about Werewolves, Yiska, and even Nymphs as there are of Vampires. I’m not saying that to cause trouble or defend what my kind has done but to ask to be judged on my own actions as I judge you on yours.”

“Hmm, we will see,” Alexandria Hmm

relented. “What can you tell us of this new Vampire and how it came to be?”

“I can tell you what I was told about who did it in that they are now dead. Whether that is because of drinking alien blood or because they were found out, I don’t know.”

“And you believe what you were told?”

“Alexandria, I didn’t even know any vampires had moved so close to Purgatory. After Otto and his brood were dispatched, I was assured the Ghost River Triangle was off-limits. You destroyed one of the few remaining European broods as well as Miller,” Kate explained as she looked between them all, “they know better than to draw your gaze… at least I thought they knew better.”

“What would have made them risk it?”

“The lure of fresh blood,” Kate guessed. “There is a lot of power in the Triangle, some of it too addictive to be risked,” she glanced at Waverly. Even though the girl was only part angel, it was part too much. All of them there were too powerful to risk in their own ways, but angel blood was addictive and could drive a vampire to madness after just a taste. “Alien blood… that is an unknown quantity but…”

“But?”

“If the poor thing that was turned smelled half as good as your new friend here…” she glanced towards the blonde seated on the couch and resisted the urge to rub her nose to wipe away the scent of summer sun, ozone and scents no one born on Earth had ever smelt, that teased at her senses.

A word echoed through her head like a whisper from a god that rang like a crystal-clear bell with weight and importance as she looked at Kara… ‘Paragon’.

“I could see why they would take the risk,” she admitted. “I would not,” she hastened to add as the redhead at Kara’s side stiffened ready to fight her if she made a move. “But I could see why they would be tempted.”

“How do we kill this kind?”

“We try not to.”

“Haughtshot—”

“Earp, we know not all vampires are evil—” Nicole made a sweeping gesture towards Kate. The one good vampire they knew even though Wynonna didn’t quite see her in that way, and probably never would, after catching her trying to seduce Doc.

“It tried to kill Lena. It almost managed to kill Kara. And if you didn’t have your crazy abilities when it comes to poison you would be dead.”

“That doesn’t make it evil!” Nicole threw up her hands in exasperation. “When Bill found it, it had been attacked and it was scared it was going to be captured and taken away by the DEO.” Nicole cast a telling glance towards Alex. “It attacking could have been because of that. Once it settles down maybe we can help it.”

“And if it can’t… If it tries to hurt anyone else?”

“How many people do you have to see me kill before it sinks in where my loyalties lie, Wynonna? I’m not going to risk anyone but I’m not just going to run off and blindly kill anyone either.”

“Fine. We find it and try talking before we get all stabby stabby. Eliza and Jeannie will be pissed if we get to use the BBD issue stakes without them again,” she snorted softly. “It might help if we know what it was before the vamps got all bitey.”

“I didn’t recognise it. Kara?”

“I didn’t get a very good look at it.”

“It’s changed since we first saw it so it might not even look like what it was before it was turned. But maybe…” Opening her phone, Nicole quickly shot a message to Jeremy. “Jeremy was going through all the phones and video footage from around town to see if he could get a shot of it or work out where it was hiding out.”

A silence fell across the room again as they waited and got lost in their thoughts that was shattered by shouts of alarm from around the guard points in and around the village that had a chill running up Nicole’s spine.

Gustus burst into the room, Anya and Indra in his wake. Blood dripped in a steady stream down his face and into his beard from a gash on his forehead that he ignored other than to swipe at with the back of his hand to keep the blood out of his eyes.

“We’re under attack!”

“The vampire?”

“Vampires,” Anya emphasised the multiple as she readied Alexandria’s weapons rather than argue that their best fighter should stay out of things. “Three so far.”

“Nicole… all the portals,” Lena whispered in dawning horror. “If they all brought something from another Earth through and they got turned too…”

“Waverly, the kids—”

“Octavia, Raven and Lincoln are with them and more were on the way before we came to you,” Indra assured them.

“Anya, Gustus, take Cole and Madi to them. And, get yourself checked out, old friends. If you caught one of their claws—”

“I did not,” he quickly assured her. “One of them appeared behind me and threw me into a tree The tree fared better than even my thick skull,” he grumbled. “Neither of us suffered any lasting damage though.”

Nicole ached to tell Waverly to go to Gustus and Anya anyway so she could be with the children and safe. But, there was a fierce moonlit glow already flooding her eyes in the shape of angel wings that said she would be wasting her breath to even think of it a moment longer let alone opening her mouth to suggest it.

“You four, stay here.”

“Nicole, turn us,” Wynonna ordered in a tone that brooked no argument. “I want to have more than teeth to sink into those things.”

With a nod of her head in acknowledgement, Nicole focussed on the connection between herself and Waverly and teased and tugged at her wolf. The ability to turn a werewolf without their consent was a terrible power that many Alpha wolves used to control and create fear. Her own father, Bulshar had used it to turn her for the first time when she had been little more than a baby and Nicole was better at it than he had ever been.

Better because she had only done it with consent and love.

Just as she did then.

As easily as if the moon was full and high in the sky, Waverly’s body slipped from human to her full moon wolf. The moon shone brightly in her eyes, the power of angel and moon witch that allowed her to control everything that lived by its light rippled out and turned Doc, Xavier and Wynonna in turn.

Alex stepped back, her body crashing into the immovable object that was Kara as she momentarily forgot to argue against being side-lined, by the need to create some space to breathe when it was all been taken up by the appearance of four massive wolf creatures who were having to crouch to prevent the very real risk of bringing the roof down on all their heads.

“Rao!” Kara breathed in wonder and delight as she finally got to witness what she had missed earlier. She had seen aliens that could shapeshift before… she had worked with J’onn for months without even realising he was one. But this… it felt different. They weren’t using a form that wasn’t there’s but simply changing into another part of themselves and she could feel the difference. She could feel the magic that was a part of them, and the Earth they called home.

She wondered why Nicole hadn’t changed with the others but she soon found out as the others squeezed their way through what was an impressively wide door and Nicole followed and shifted into a form that was even bigger than the others. If she had done that inside, she would have had to remove a good part of the wall around the door to get out.

Through the open doorway, she could clearly hear the sounds of a running battle coming from different parts of the village… and the screams of innocents caught up in it.

“I can’t just sit here, Alex!”

With a quick move, Kara whipped her glasses off in a practised move that activate the nanotechnology they were made of. Kara had done it so often that she was used to the slight tickling sensation as the glasses broke down and the nanobots raced across her body and reformed as her suit around her. It was definitely more convenient than wearing her suit under her clothing and racing to find places to change.

Not to mention the fact that she no longer had to change all her buttons on her shirts to press-studs.

And…

Pants!!!!

“Now, that’s impressive,” Kate hummed in appreciation and she admired the way the high-tech fabric clung to Kara’s muscular body. “Wait! Wait!” She grabbed for Kara’s arm before she could vanish through the door and felt the strength of the chorded muscle beneath her hand.

“You can’t talk me out of leaving, Kate.”

Kate wafted a hand at the very idea. “Please, as if I didn’t already know that the one person capable of getting you to even _listen_ to a suggestion like that hadn’t already left.”

“What? Damn it, Lena!” Kara hissed in exasperation, her brow creasing as she saw Lena vanishing around the corner of a building outside. “What is she doing?”

“She’ll be heading to be with the children. Do not worry, the Yiska and the Wolves are fiercely protective of their young. With the children is probably the safest place to be right now. But, you’re not about safety are you?”

“Whatever is out there, it is from our Earth.”

“And you believe that makes it your problem.”

“Even if it wasn’t, I would still want to help.”

“Before you can though, you need to know. You can’t let them touch you. And I don’t say that because of the poison. My kind… we have the ability to compel another with a touch. One single touch. Do you understand? One touch, a simple brush of fingers, and protecting them will be the only thing on your mind. One touch and your friends will find themselves fighting you as well as them.”

“Shit,” Alex swallowed heavily at the thought of her skills or Kara’s strength been turned against them.

“Exactly. Now, there is a chance that they can’t do that but… better safe than sorry, hmm?”

“Fight from a distance… Don’t get touched by them… Got it.” With a nod of understanding, Kara shot through the doorway and up into the sky at full speed so she could work out where she was most needed.

**********

Lena’s heart was pounding somewhere up in her throat by the time Nicole and Waverly’s house was in sight. The thumping of it louder than a bass drum that muffled the shouting of the guards and the pop of weapons that came from all around.

A shadow loomed from the darkness before her. A rictus grin from a vaguely reptilian face coming into view through inky smoke.

Lena looked around for something to arm herself with. Gritting her teeth in determination, she snatched up a hefty staff someone had thankfully left leaning against a wall after training and brandished it at the creature as it advanced on her. Her one thought, her one desire, was to stop the creature from getting any closer to the children.

If it took her last breath, she would protect them!

“Stay away from them, ya fecker!”

Lena swung the staff with all her might. At best, she thought to cause a distraction but as the hardened wood passed through the thick fog that surrounded it, it shrieked in pain and drew away. Howling in agony. Claws bared. It rushed toward her before Lena could steady herself… And ran into a slashing blow from Waverly’s bared claws and the twin beams of blue of Kara’s heat vision as it burned down from above and cut straight through it.

Like smoke caught in a wind, the vampire creature dissipated and vanished but not before letting out another bloodcurdling scream that had Lena’s blood turning to ice in her veins and the staff falling from her suddenly limp grasp. Waverly’s hand on her shoulder grounded her and Lena grasped at it, burying her fingers desperately into the soft fur until the pounding of her heart slowed enough for her to make out the words to go with the movement of Waverly’s lips.

“You’re okay. I got you.”

“Is it gone?” She looked around fearfully, half expecting to see it looming out from the shadows again.

“Yes. But, there are more of them than we thought, Lena. And they are hard to track,” she growled. “You need to get inside.”

“I’m not going all the way back there to sit in safety!” Lena’s spine stiffened and not even the weight of Waverly’s hand or the threat of vampiric aliens was enough to weigh her down as she straightened and stood up to her even though Waverly towered over her in that form.

“I don’t want you to,” Waverly smiled as best as she could in her wolf form. With a nod of her head, she gestured towards there home where Lena had been making her way towards. “Protect our children for us so I can go help the others, Lena. Please.”

Lena drew in a breath, her eyes widening with the weight of what Waverly was entrusting her with. Even with guards on the inside, she had been close, protecting the children. But, if she was with them, Waverly felt happy enough to leave!

“I will,” she promised firmly, resolutely.

“Thank you. And thank you, Kara.”

Waverly didn’t even raise her voice, but Lena saw Kara smile and nod from where she was hovering above them protectively as she looked up through the moonlit sky. She’d missed the sight of her like that more keenly than she’d realised until she felt the wave of warmth and love flowing through her, filling a part of her that had felt so closed off and empty.

“Go, both of you. Help the others.”

With the nudge of a cold, wet wolf nose and the sharp crack of a cape in the wind, Lena was alone.

At least she hoped she was.

Not wanting to chance anything, she hurried towards the door. It opened at Octavia’s hand just before she reached it and Lena rushed inside and opened her arms in time to catch Jas as she barreled towards her, and the others as they quickly followed.

“That was very foolish of you, Lena,” Lincoln growled out as he crossed the room and stood over her protectively until Octavia had the door closed and Raven gave the all-clear. “But, it was very brave too,” he smiled.

“Between Raven wanting to make explosives and Jasmin trying to break out to get to you, I think I would rather be out there,” Octavia grumbled.

“Hey, no one complained when I was making sh—tuff to fight back against Miller!”

“Your answer to everything in life is to blow it up.”

“Hey, I go with what works.”

Drawing in a deep breath, Lena tuned out the chatter strained with nerves and the sounds of fighting beyond the walls as she filled her lungs and her senses with the sweet scent and feel of the babies crowded around her.

“I’ve got you. Everything’s going to be okay.”

**********

The battle was long and hard and made more so by the seemingly endless numbers of the vampires as three turned into more and more that poured into the village and turned their own against them. They were tricky to get a hold of but once they were, they were relatively easy to dispatch though sometimes it felt like for every one they took out, there were five more to take its place.

Then suddenly, just before the sun could tint the horizon with the faint hint of dawn, several portals opened up and the vampires were gone, leaving behind a silence that fell upon the village as everyone stood and looked around waiting.

Waiting to see if it was over.

Waiting to see where the next attack would come from.

Waiting until they felt foolish for waiting but afraid to relax their guard.

“Haught?”

“I’m getting nothing.”

“Nothing in the trees either,” Clarke confirmed. “Wherever they went it is beyond where I can see.”

“Gustus! Indra! Double the guards and arrange a sweep of the village. We need to make sure anyone wounded gets treatment in case they were poisoned.”

“I’ll help,” Kara offered as she alighted quietly amongst them. “I’ll fly up and x-ray the buildings to look for anyone that needs help.”

“Thank you, Kara.”

Alex stepped closer as her sister took to the sky with a speed that set clothing and hair, and fur, fluttering. Even after fighting alongside them for hours it was still intimidating being so close to them but there was no fear within her as she reached up and placed her hand upon Nicole’s hard-muscled shoulder and felt her fingers sink into the softness of her coat. “Where do you need me?”

“After seeing you in action I feel like I should be asking you that,” Nicole smirked. “Alexandria?”

“Could you help Gustus and Indra out, Alex? A fresh pair of eyes will not go amiss in these times. Then, once everything is settled…”

“We work on a plan to stop this spreading further,” Clarke finished for her.

“It would help if we knew what they were before they got turned,” Wynonna added. “Or maybe not,” she shrugged, “the only aliens I knew before all this were what I saw on TV.”

**********

“Anunnaki!”

Startled by Lena’s sudden outburst right beside her, Wynonna bolted upright from where she had been slumped dejectedly on the couch. “Erm, _gesundheit_?”

“What? No,” Lena rolled her eyes even as she bounced off the couch and started pacing back and forth. “I just remembered the name of the aliens I saw in the DEO database—”

“You’ve looked in the DEO alien database? Did you hack us, Luthor?”

“Firstly: besides the point. Secondly: please try not to insult my intelligence Director Danvers. Winn left so many breadcrumbs the first time he tried to hack our servers we had to vacuum them out. In addition, for a 12th level intellect, Brainy is no better at covering his tracks.”

“But they did get in,” Alex felt behove to point out in defence of her agents and friends even as she wondered how to lure Winn back to their time just to threaten him.

“Only as far as I wanted,” Lena smirked to Alex’s obvious chagrin.

“Good thing Lena is on our side, huh?” Kara mumbled around a mouthful of cookie.

“Erm, Anunnaki?”

“Oh,” Kara quickly licked her lips clean of cookie crumbs. “I remember them. I never visited their planet and truthfully I didn’t think they had the ability to make it to Earth. They had a belief system similar to Krypton but they were less advanced, preferring to focus on what they had rather than advancing in science or looking to the stars.”

“Unless there is another similar species, it looks like they looked out eventually. And in numbers too. Can you remember anything else about them, Kara?”

“Hmm. Oh, according to what my father told me, they have a strong bond through a hive mind that shapes the very fabric of who they are and what they do.”

“So… if one becomes a murderous vampire creature—?” Alex straightened up in her seat and turned slowly to face her sister. “Kara, with the amount that are here thanks to Midnight, what if it changed all the ones on our Earth too?” She whispered the question, almost afraid that just speaking it might make it a reality.

“Rao!”

No! No! No! She was supposed to give that loud laugh of hers and tell her there was no way that could happen!

“We need to get back, Kara!”

“We can’t. Remember?”

Lena frowned in confusion. It wasn’t as though she was in any hurry to leave but once Kara and Alex had arrived she had just assumed they could leave at any time. “Why not?”

“The interdimensional extrapolator we used kind of fritzed out on the way through. Barry said it was more difficult to get here but I don’t think he expected that to happen,” Kara explained. “And I might have also damaged it a bit more after we were attacked.” Grimacing, Kara pulled the crumpled remains of the device out of her pocket and ignored Alex’s groan of her name as she placed it in Lena’s hand. “I’m sure you can fix it though.” She smiled encouragingly, her faith in Lena’s skills holding strong even as Lena’s eyebrows shot up so high they almost vanished from sight.

“Kara—”

“If not, I’m sure Barry and the others will work out we’ve been gone too long at some point.”

“I’m sure I can work something out now I’ve got something to work with.” Even if that something was bits of plastic and crushed circuitry.

“That’s great!”

“I’ll fix it but…” pausing, Lena looked around the room at everyone she had come to know, respect and love as a family. People that had never once judged her even after hearing the harsh truth of her life and who she was from herself. As well as them, she thought about Jasmin and the others before she shifted around in her seat to face Kara and met her beautiful gaze. But, as she looked into the blue of her eyes, it was Jasmin’s eyes she saw. “Kara, I’m not sure I want to go back even if it is fixed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN - That was a surprisingly difficult chapter to get done. Mostly because my muses decided to take a break for the holidays when I wanted to write. Had to force myself through it and just write so I hope it didn't turn out too bad as it is a lot of little scenes coming together.
> 
> There will be more Kara and Jasmin soon.
> 
> As a quick note though, as this kind of merges with Crisis, I won't be stepping too deeply into that story... so no big battle with our wolves fighting alongside Flash and all the others in this. There are just too many characters there that I don't know and, frankly, battles are a pain in the butt to write well o.O It can end up a bit like one of those old war maps with little figures on trying to keep track of who is where, lol


	11. Chapter 11

## Purgatory

Kara was one of the fastest beings on Earth, on any version of the blue and green orb in the Multiverse. But, as fast as she was, she was left blinking at the empty space where Lena had been sitting moments before as her words rattled and echoed around the suddenly empty spaces of her mind and struck her to stillness.

Lena. Her Lena. Lena with her fierce intellect, passion and drive to do good and be more than her last name. The woman she loved as a friend and so much more. The woman she had crossed the Multiverse to find, and would risk anything to save and protect, didn’t want to go back to their Earth with them?

“Lena?”

Kara blinked in confusion, the white noise of her rattling mind suddenly rushing back into focus as the room and life itself seemed to rush back into speed around her as the door to the outside finally closed behind Lena long after she had left the house, with a quiet click that sounded like a gunshot to Kara’s hypersensitive senses.

“Lena?”

A hand closed around Kara’s wrist as she moved to stand up and years of learning how not to inadvertently rip someone’s arm out of joint by following through, had Kara halting, her eyes dropping to the familiar bands of flesh before following the line of her arm to Alex’s steady but concerned gaze. Blinking, she focussed on the movement of Alex’s mouth and pulled together the jumble of words from the background hum of the village and put them into a semblance of order.

“Kara,” recognising that her sister was getting overwhelmed by her senses, Alex spoke slowly, giving her the time to focus. “Maybe you should give Lena a moment to—”

“No, Alex,” Kara shook her head firmly. “Can’t you see? Not talking when I should have… Waiting… Giving her a moment… That did nothing but cause pain for both of us and led to this. I’ve got to go to her. If for nothing else than to just make sure she’s okay.”

With a nod of her head and a soft smile of understanding and encouragement, Alex released her hold of her sister’s wrist and let her hand drop back to curl up on her lap. They had messed up when it came to Lena, they all had in different ways. They had let their fear of her name, their busy lives and even their need to protect Lena as well as the rest of their friends and family, get in the way of telling her the truth about Kara long after she had become someone they called upon and relied on to help them without question.

There had been so many reasons, good ones, for keeping Kara’s secret… and yet they had been wrong. And now the time for holding back was over and all there was left to do, was watch as Kara raced out of the door to follow Lena.

**********

Kara could have caught up with Lena in seconds, even less than that with little effort. But, she held herself to a more human pace, putting on only a little burst of super speed to help a group of villagers still busy making good repairs around the village to sure up a perilously leaning wall, before continuing on her way.

The village and its people had taken a battering at the hands of the Vampiric aliens but, mercifully, the people were tough and well trained and worst injury suffered was a broken leg.

Kara had thought that Lena would continue along the path that led to the house she was using, but she turned off towards Nicole and Waverly’s where all the children were resting.

“Lena!”

Kara knew she had been heard by the way Lena’s shoulders stiffened into a tight, precise line but, she didn’t turn, slow her pace or acknowledge her in any other way. The sound of a single tear falling to splash upon the broad leaf of a plant by the door and the faintest of wet, teary sniffles as Lena pushed her way inside ripped at Kara’s heart, cutting her deeper than any weapon had before.

Surrounded by strings of fairy lights glinting from between the folds what had to be the biggest, most impressive blanket fort Kara had ever seen, Raven managed to cut a surprisingly intimidating figure as she glowered at her as she entered the house. She was bristled up ready to fight, her mouth pursed and ready to rain down abuse upon Kara’s head but a touch from Anya, a simple loving touch from the taller, stoic faced woman, and Raven relaxed her stance… but only slightly.

A testament to the loyalty Lena had evoked and earned from them in so short a space of time, Raven looked ready to chew her up and spit her out given half a chance.

Catching her eye, Anya gestured sharply with her chin to let her know which way Lena had gone. It wasn’t an altogether friendly look or gesture, more of an acknowledgement that people screwed up and that was the way she needed to go to fix it. The sure hand resting upon the weapon at her side and the glint in her eye said if she didn’t, there was a world of hurt waiting for her. And, as invulnerable as Kara was, she believed Anya’s unspoken threat just as much as she did Raven’s.

“Lena?”

Kara approached the children’s bedroom slowly, her pace measured and even despite the nearly overwhelming need to rush, to be closer, giving Lena time to compose herself and not feel crowded by her presence. She was too concerned about Lena to be able to appreciate the sight that greeted her but, even so, she found herself smiling as she took in the pile of all the children, and also a cat and dog, piled together in a tangle of arms, legs and numerous stuffed toys on the same bed. Their soft breathing and quiet snores filling the air as they caught up on the sleep denied them by the events of the night.

All of them were there, apart from Jasmin. Kara realised the little girl wasn’t a part of the kiddie pile only when she stepped out from where she had been hugging Lena and walked towards her. Enchanted by the sight of sleep tousled red hair, Kara knelt down, putting herself on the same level as her.

And promptly earned herself a stuffed toy hurled with force to the face that didn’t hurt any more than a light breeze would have, but shocked her into falling back, ass first to the floor with a thud.

Lena clasped a hand over her mouth to hold back a startled laugh at the shocked and bewildered look on Kara’s face. The girl of steel, laid out by a stuffed toy thrown by a tiny redhead.

“Bad Kawa! No make Mama Lena cry!”

From her position on the floor, Kara watched, stunned as Jasmin glared down at her from above fiercely crossed arms and stomped her foot. With a derisive huff from flared nostrils, she turned sharply and all but scratched off in her face before she stormed back to her Mama Lena’s side.

“Jasmin,” Lena admonished her pintsized protector even as she picked her up and hugged her close to comfort them both. “I’m so sorry, Kara.”

“Well, I… Yeah, I deserved that.” Kara gave a wry smile of acknowledgement. Picking up the stuffed toy Jasmin had used to smack some sense into her, she floated her way back to her feet and shuffled closer to them.

“You didn’t—”

“Yes I did, Lena. I made you cry. Not meaning to, doesn’t make it any less true.” Reaching out, Kara stroked a gentle hand down Jasmin’s tense spine to gain her attention and tempted fate by handing the still furious child her weapon back. “I should have told you who I was sooner once we became friends.”

“I never pried or tried to look into who Supergirl was because it was always your secret to keep, Kara.”

“And I hated keeping it from you,” Kara sighed. “Very few people even know and of them, there are only a few that I got the chance to tell on my own terms. At first, I wasn’t allowed to tell you because of—”

“My name?” Lena supplied as Kara broke off with a grimace of shame twisting her lips.

“Unfortunately, yes. Not because I thought you were like Lex or Lillian though. I trusted you, Lena.” I wanted to tell you but people who’ve known who I am have been targeted and hurt because of it and I didn’t want that to happen to you.”

“Kara, are you forgetting the quarterly assassination attempts? I’ve always been a target for the people that hate me because they think I am no better than Lex and others that think I am not enough like him.”

“I hate it when you call them that,” Kara huffed. “But, those rare occasions that were not at all _that_ regular… they weren’t because of me. I lost my planet, my family… I can’t lose you. And that was when I messed up even more,” she admitted quietly, her eyes dropping from the searching green of Lena’s crystalline gaze. “I was so, so scared that you would hate me and I would lose you. I tried to tell you in Kaznia when we were coming back on the plane. I had my glasses off ready… If you’d just turned around or glanced back… but you talked about how Eve’s betrayal and laid your feelings out and I couldn’t add to that and put them back on.”

“Lex very kindly showed me a video of you using your heat vision in Kaznia, burning photos of us,” she whispered quietly, still feeling the disquiet of seeing the steely determination and anger she had seen from Supergirl on her best friend’s face in the footage.

“I hate him for revealing what I wanted to tell you but was too scared to. You didn’t deserve my silence or to find out like that. I can’t imagine what that looked like, me burning pictures of us, but I was scared,” reaching out, Kara brushed her fingers along Lena’s tightly clenched jaw. “Red Daughter was watching me, watching us, that meant everyone I love was in more danger than I’d realised and that scared me.” Kara drew in a deep, shuddering breath as the memories flooded back from that time. Of everything that Lex had nearly managed to do to her, to the world. He had taken them to the brink of war from behind bars. If he even truly been behind them. And in addition to that, he had managed to inflict even more damage with one last stab at the sister that had looked up to him when she was younger.

Lena held Jasmin closer, drawing strength and comfort from the way she felt against her, and the simple, unconditional, love and trust that she had given right from the start.

“I understand why you didn’t tell me, Kara. Still a little bit upset about it still,” she admitted. “But, I understand.”

Kara’s eyes searched her face, looking for answers to questions not yet spoken. A million thoughts and ideas flickered through her brilliant blue eyes at an inhuman pace she was used to seeing from Kara and Supergirl alike even though she had never equated the two to be the same. It was an innate curiosity and desire to find the truth that served her well as both as a hero and as a reporter.

How, Lena wondered for the millionth time since Lex had accused her of not wanting to see what was right in front of her, how had she not noticed before that the two remarkable women in her life were one and the same? Now that she knew, now that Kara wasn’t hiding and was showing her true face that was the amalgamation of both personas and something so much more besides, it was so very obvious.

The pointless questions and thoughts running through her mind had Lena’s brow furrowing into a frown. Kara’s body slumped at what she saw on her face and she started worrying at her own lip with her teeth. But, rather than running how it looked like she wanted to, she shuffled cautiously closer.

“Lena. Is that why you want to stay here? Is it because of me?”

“Not here, Kara. Not now.” Avoiding the searching blue of Kara’s eyes, Lena pressed a soft kiss to the crown of Jasmin’s head. “Go lay back down, sweetie. I’m okay now.” Jasmin didn’t look overly convinced about that and glared at Kara over her shoulder the whole way back to the crowded bed.

Kara edged closer. So close that Lena could feel the heat radiating from her body against the length of her own and felt the brush of fabric when either of them took a deep breath. They stood there, the silence an easy weight between them as they watched Jas take her place right in the middle of a puppy pile that shifted only slightly and seemed to absorb her into their ranks with a minimum of twitching limbs and grunts of protest as Jas scrambled and slid over them without care.

The look on Kara’s face was one of utter joy and curiosity as she watched them.

Lena nudged her with her elbow, gaining at least a little of her attention as she still managed to keep an eye on the children as she turned to look at her. “What are you thinking about?” she asked, her voice barely breaking above a whisper.

“They just look so adorable I was wondering what it would be like to climb in amongst them,” Kara smiled crookedly and blushed at the admittance.

“It’s warm and comfy,” Lena grinned at the delighted as the thought seemed to vibrate up from Kara’s toes before breaking out across her face in a wide, slightly crooked smile and a twinkle in her eyes. “They like to snuggle,” she shrugged her explanation.

Lillian would have been horrified at how much all the werewolves but especially their children, seemed to crave contact. In fact, Lillian would no doubt be horrified by everything to do with them as she believed that children shouldn’t be seen or heard unless they were being trotted out to perform, whereas the werewolves doted on them and everything they did no matter how big or small.

Lena had never entertained the idea of having children. The thought that her upbringing at the hands of the Luthor’s or her genes might lead her down the same path had made her dismiss the idea long before Lex had tried to kill Superman but… being around them… while it hadn’t _exactly_ kickstarted any ‘maternal instinct’, she knew if it happened just whose ideas on bringing them up she would follow.

‘Never ever, not in a million years’, had apparently become ‘maybe one day’, and it was all thanks to her time with the werewolves and their children… and the woman at her side.

Casting a furtive glance out of the corner of her eye at Kara’s strong jawline and far too perfect profile, Lena struggled for a moment to compose her wayward thoughts and her expression before gesturing for Kara to follow her out of the room, passing by Raven and Anya, and out of Nicole and Waverly’s home. Once they were outside, the Supergirl side of Kara seemed to come to the fore as her eyes narrowed and pierced the shadows beneath every tree and building overhang and her head tilted and turned in a way she had seen before from Kara and the wolves as they listened to things beyond the range of anything Lena’s normal ears could hope to catch.

Rather than wasting time pointing out that they were well guarded, more so than ever after the attack of the night, Lena nodded her head to indicate the path they were taking and made her way to her village home.

Compared to any of the homes and apartments she had occupied on Earth 38 since completing her education, it was a small building but it was spacious and felt right in a way that only one other place had and that was Kara’s apartment with its eclectic collection of furnishings and decorations that all seemed to have a story behind them.

A small, abstract painting of a swirling galaxy done in delicate strokes of light green: _‘I did this after the first time we met, Lena. The colour of your eyes reminded me of a galaxy I once saw with my dad when we were travelling to— In— in a book! It was a book we read together.’_

Entranced by the painting and the story behind it; who knew her eyes could evoke such a memory? Lena had brushed aside Kara’s typical flustered tumble of words but, now she knew they had been because she had almost revealed too much.

_‘I flew here— on— on a bus.’_

Lena almost wished she had borrowed Jas’ stuffed toy to bounce off Kara’s thick skull herself as well as her own for not seeing, but, fortunately for Kara, she was too enraptured by the way she filled the gaps in her home and somehow made them brighter and better to hold onto any form of anger at all the tiptoeing around the truth Kara had done over the years. It had always been that way with her. That lightness and joy that lit up Lena’s dark corners.

But now, Lena wanted more.

She deserved more.

Didn’t she?

“Would you like a drink?”

Kara looked up from the framed photo of Lena and the children she had picked up from a side table, a refusal on her lips, but, before she could speak, Lena had kicked off her shoes, toeing them out of the way, and was already striding off in the direction Kara guessed the kitchen lay. Unwilling to let her out of her sight for even a small amount of time, Kara followed her through.

Leaning against the warm, time-worn wood of the doorjamb, she watched, a fluttering, tingling sensation starting around her heart and spreading through her body as she watched Lena’s easy, silken movements as she manoeuvred around the small kitchen with an ease that only faltered when she opened a cupboard and tried to reach the tall drinking glasses that lay just out of reach beyond her fingertips.

“Damn it,” Lena grumbled beneath her breath in frustration, “should not have let Nicole put them away last time. Kara!” She meeped in shock, at the sudden press of a firm body against her back. “Jesus, I thought you were still in the—” her voice trailed off, lightning and heat racing up and down her spine as Kara reached up and over her, sandwiching her between the counter and her body as she plucked a couple of tall glasses off the shelf.

Lena expected to see a purely innocent expression on Kara’s face as she finally schooled her own emotions and physical response enough to look over her shoulder. Awe shucks! Just your friendly neighbourhood superhero out to help short CEO’s in their time of need! But, instead of innocence, there was a knowing glint in the blue of Kara’s eyes and in the way the solid heat of her body was still pressed against her with an intimacy that surely went beyond friendship especially as the glasses were rescued from the cupboard and now in Lena’s trembling hands and she still hadn’t moved back.

Kara had fought beings of all shapes and sizes but the biggest one she had ever faced proved to be temptation as she struggled and finally, somehow, managed to take a step back to give Lena the space to at least turn around even though giving her more than that was beyond Kara’s strength or desire. Her fingers twitched as they raised, her hand reluctantly departing from the path they wanted to take to touch Lena’s cheek to fiddle with her own glasses.

“Why do you wear them?”

Kara had to focus for a moment longer than she should have in order to take in what Lena had asked but that was Lena’s fault for looking so distractingly cute and just a bit dangerous when she tilted her head just so and raised a questioning brow.

“Erm—”

“I mean before. I know they activate your suit now… which I will be having a word with Brainy about for messing with my tech. But, I’ve seen pictures of you at school and you wore them then too and I think everyone would have been talking if there had been a teen superhero flying around back then.”

Taking her glasses off, slowly so as not to activate the suit, Kara folded down the arms and handed them to Lena so she could get a better look and feel the weight of them. Her green eyes flickered and raced over her features and Kara knew she was taking in every difference, slight as it was, between Kara Danvers and Kara Zor-El that happened when she took them off or put them on. It was really no different than the shift that happened for anyone else when they wore different clothing but when most people did that, they weren’t hiding part of themselves from their best friend and she could see that by the flash of hurt in Lena’s eyes before she focused on the glasses in her hands.

“They’re heavier than they look.”

“Jeremiah and Eliza made them for me. The lead helped to control my x-ray vision when my powers kicked in,” Kara explained. “When we left Krypton I was thirteen and Kal was just a baby. He grew up with his powers here whereas I just suddenly got them.”

“You’re older than he is?”

“Technically,” she shrugged. “We were supposed to arrive here at the same time so I could help raise him. His pod left first and got clear okay but my pod got caught in Krypton’s explosion and got knocked off course.”

“Oh, Kara—”

Kara gently squeezed the hand Lena placed within hers, her thumb rubbing back and forth across the softness of her flesh, grounding her from the thoughts and memories that threatened to pull her back under and drown her.

“I got stuck in a place we called the Phantom Zone for twenty-four years. Time stands still there. I shouldn’t have known anything about it but the statis on my pod wasn’t working quite right, or maybe it was just that seeing Krypton explode and losing everything was just too much to contain but, I drifted in and out of consciousness. In the darkness. Trapped with my memories until my pod was set free and I finally ended up on Earth. Kal found me and took me to live with the Danvers.”

“Wait, your own cousin just handed you over to someone else?”

Kara shrugged, trying for nonchalance even though it was still a bit of a sore subject even after all the years that had gone by since she had been left in the care of strangers. “He wanted a different life for me.”

“Kara—”

Kara dipped her head, feeling thirteen again at Lena’s tone. “Yeah, I hated him for it,” she finally admitted. “To me, Krypton had only just exploded. I was still grieving the loss of my parents and my whole planet and Kal, who I had been sent with to help raise, had already grown up and didn’t want me in his life. I had to learn how to do everything how it was done on Earth and adjust my thinking accordingly all while grieving and being a teenager. Can you imagine what that was like?”

“Terrifying, I should imagine.”

“Yeah. The Danvers were great… apart from Alex who hated me for a long time.”

“Someone hating you? Now _that_ I can’t imagine.” Chuckling softly, Lena quickly filled the glasses with some of the delicious juice Clarke had given her. Kara eyed the glass she pressed into her hand hesitantly but obediently followed her into the small living room without one complaint about it being green and no doubt healthy.

“Oh, I was kind of terrible sometimes. Just in small ways though. Okay, so I used to use my speed to beat her to the bathroom each morning,” Kara chuckled as she placed the glass on a low coffee table, making sure she found a coster first, before sitting down on the couch. Lena lowered herself down on the other end of the couch. Too far away for Kara’s liking but her tummy started to flutter as Lena turned her body and gracefully folded her legs up under her and suddenly they were close enough that Lena’s knees brushed against the outside of her thigh.

“Neither of us wanted a sister too much back then,” Kara continued. “but now, I couldn’t imagine my life without her. Even when we weren’t on the best of terms she would hold me when the nightmares got too bad and slip my glasses on for me so my x-ray vision wouldn’t go out of control and scare me even more.”

Lena grimaced sympathetically. Some of the bare facts about Supergirl and Superman’s arrivals on Earth were public knowledge. Stories pieced together from interviews and passing comments. And, she knew more from Lex’s obsession with Superman even though she had done her best to avoid even looking at it, the problem with a near-perfect eidetic memory was that just glances in passing had revealed more than she wanted to know. What Lena had never suspected though was that using the power their sun provided them came with a learning curve. “Thirteen, and you had to learn how to control all those amazing powers? And I thought puberty was bad enough.”

“One advantage for a teen under the yellow sun,” Kara leaned closer to whisper conspiratively, “clearer skin. Alex was even more put out when she realised I wouldn’t get super-acne.”

“I would have been too. I had to cut short my emo/goth/punk phase because the heavy makeup made me break out. Of course, knowing Lillian how I do now, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that she’d put something in it to make it happen. ‘Luthor’s don’t act out and dress like depressed clowns, Lena’.”

“I bet you looked adorable… did anyone take photos?” Kara bounced a little in her seat at the prospect of getting to see them.

“None that even your formidable skills as a reporter, or your supersenses, will ever pick up.”

A million butterflies born from the low husky purr of Lena’s voice and the rise of a shapely, dark eyebrow, took wing in Kara’s lower abdomen and spread heat throughout her body. It happened so often that she should have been used to it but it always caught her deliciously unawares and left her stuttering in Lena’s wake even worse than her first schoolgirl crush had.

It was a feeling that usually left Kara too flustered to function around her, but speaking her truth to Lena about her love made her braver than usual. She shuffled closer along the couch, forcing Lena to adjust how she was sitting to make room for her as she moved fully into her personal space and closer still until she saw the shiver than ran through Lena at the sensation of her breath against her throat and the shell of her ear.

“How about I use my other skills instead?”

Another shiver coursed through Lena’s body but it was Kara’s words and the smug teasing behind them that had Lena leaning away from Kara to look at her face. Her move effectively left Kara hovering over her prone body in a position, her weight barely felt against the palms of Lena’s hands were they rested on her shoulder. There was space between them but the position was startlingly intimate and Lena fought against her desire to move her legs and make the room to allow Kara closer into the cradle between them.

“What—?” Lena’s stuttered query faded half-born as Kara turned on her pout.

Lena had withstood attacks of many kinds armed only with an icy composure and razor-sharp quips, but when it came to Kara’s pout… she was weaker than butter left out in the sun.

“Don’t! Kara! That’s not fair!” The restraint of her arms braced against Kara’s shoulders weakened and fell away as she laughed at Kara’s antics but Kara remained the exact same, almost respectful but not quite, distance away. “That damn pout should be reclassified as another of your powers,” she snorted out around the giggles that struck long after Kara had grinned wickedly and helped her weakened body back upright on the couch. “You’re still not getting to see any photos though so you wasted its power.”

“Worth it just to see you smile again. I missed seeing it.” Kara hid her blush a little behind her hand as she tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear. “I missed you.”

Lena swallowed at the suddenly heavy intimacy of Kara’s steady gaze.

“I missed you too.”

“Then, why?” she shuffled closer again, her hand searching for and finding the comfort of Lena’s. “Why did you say you want to stay here?”

“Because I’m a Luthor.”

“Lena, you’re so much more than your name,” Kara protested venomously.

“And yet, all my life, it is what I have been judged on even before Lex fell into madness.”

“I’ve never—”

“And yet you _have_ done exactly that, Kara. Or are you going to lie and say it wasn’t running through your mind when you first came to my office? That it wasn’t the very thing you threw back at my face when I asked for your name when we were trying to reach Sam?”

“I was scared, Lena. Kryptonite—”

“I know, Kara,” Lena firmly squeezed the strong hand resting between her own. “I already forgave you for that. Bygones, remember. The point though is that everyone does it. They see my name and rush to judgement. Here, there’s none of that here. Even when I told them everything my family has ever done… the things _I’ve_ done… they accepted me without question because they know what it’s like to be judged unfairly too.”

“It’s not our Earth though, Lena.”

“Why can’t it be? We’ve checked, there’s no version of the Luthor’s or even a ‘me’ here. Why can’t I stay here and make a name for myself? With a portal is it really any different than moving to another country? Don’t I deserve the chance to just be myself? To be happy and free?”

“Of course you do.” And she did. Everyone did. But all Kara felt was the familiar, stifling weight of loss pressing down on her that had her wanting to rocket up through the roof and into the vastness of the sky where no one could go or hear her scream out her anguish.

“… ara... Kara… Kara… It’s okay… breathe with me now. In and out… That’s it.”

Kara blinked back from the darkness, following the lure of Lena’s calm voice as she fell into the twin points of crystal green floating in front of her. Lena’s face took form before her, and Kara realised she must have been close to a panic attack or in a full-blown one as Lena had moved from the couch and was kneeling before her.

“Lena—” she croaked her name out.

“Just breathe, Kara.” Tugging Kara’s hand closer, Lena placed it over her heart. Kara’s fingers twitched against the fabric of her top, the tip of one tapping out the rhythm of her heart.

“I— I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to apologise for, Kara. For now, just focus on your breathing for me. Nice and slow. In and out.” She wondered if panic attacks were something Kara had always suffered from or if they had followed her to Earth after Krypton had been destroyed, but she quashed her curiosity. All that mattered right then was helping Kara, not forcing her to plunge into the darkness to confront it all again.

“I don’t wan’ to lose you. I can’t,” Kara hiccupped around her words once she was feeling more like herself.

“I’m a genius and you’re a superhero that managed to track me down through the multiverse. Do you honestly think we’ll lose each other, Kara? Even as mad with you as I was, it was thinking about you, getting back to you that kept me trying to find an answer. But, now that I have… I need this place. I need a fresh start. Hey,” she grasped Kara’s jaw gently but firmly, forcing her to meet her gaze before she could turn away. “It’s no different than if I moved to another city.”

“Lena, that trip through to this Earth destroyed the extrapolator.”

“Yes. But, you’re forgetting one thing… It wasn’t made by me.”

The smirk of pride and the wickedly teasing smile on Lena’s face pulled a snorted out laugh from Kara that bloomed outwards into a spark of hope. If there was anyone on any Earth that could do it, of course, it would be Lena.

“I promise you, Kara, I’m not going to try throwing our friendship away again.” That had just led to pain, misery and a downward spiral she didn’t want to experience again. Luthor’s were scorpions by nature, good at striking back in revenge, but it was a lonely path to travel down.

Lena’s green eyes filled her vision as she leaned closer, pressing their foreheads together while her warm hands brushed across her shoulders and the back of her neck. Kara knew that the move was meant to soothe her, and it did, but more than that it set her senses on fire. “I won’t let you or give you a reason to even think of that again,” Kara promised fervently. They were so close she could almost feel Lena’s smile. “Do— do you ever think there could be more though?”

“More?” Lena leaned back curiously, a frown creasing her brow as she studied Kara’s face for clues as to what she was thinking about.

“Between us?” Kara bit her lip and lifted her gaze. “I love you. I said it before but maybe you didn’t hear me?”

“I heard you,” Lena confirmed. “But I just took it that it was just the poison or just a declaration of friendship.”

“Why would you think any of that?”

Because no one as good and pure as Kara could love someone as jaded and damaged as she was. “Because, you’re straight, Kara.”

“I’m really not,” Kara smiled as Lena’s brow furrowed all the more as her genius mind ticked over.

“But—”

“Things were different on Krypton when it came to love, marriage, children,” Kara interrupted to explain. “It wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination but, when it came to gender and sexuality, there was nothing similar to LGBTQIA+, no labels, no Pride month or anything like that because it wasn’t needed. Love was love. On Earth though,” she sighed. “When I came here I was forced to hide everything, who I was, what I was, my powers, my beliefs, everything I knew, in order to fit in. And on this world, just like any other person trying to fit it meant following antiquated heteronormative beliefs so as not to draw attention from my peers or adults.”

Lena sighed as her own troubled relationship with her sexuality came back to her. School and home had been its own kind of hell for everyone but add to that the name Luthor and the fact that she was drawn to girls more than boys and she had been reviled all the more. But that paled in comparison to what Kara had endured.

“I think for a long time I was so caught up in trying to fit in on Earth that I convinced myself that I was straight.” A conviction she had never questioned until Lena had given her her attention. But even then she had clung to old ways. “And if asked I defaulted to saying I was to avoid attention. But while Krypton didn’t have labels, if I had to, I would choose either Bisexual or Pansexual.”

“You— so all these years when I’ve thought my flirting was just flustering my straight best friend?”

“You were flustering your less than straight best friend who had a humongous crush on you. One that I didn’t know what to do with because I am terrible at picking up on social clues and what is right and appropriate on Earth,” Kara grimaced wryly. “And you were always out of my league,” she breathed softly, leaning into Lena’s fingers as they brushed across her jaw. “And frankly, when it comes to romantic love, I suck. The first time I tried kissing anyone here I accidentally broke their nose.”

Lena couldn’t help the flare of jealousy at the thought of someone kissing Kara any more than she could quell the urge to breathe or stop herself from wondering if Kara now had better control when it came to kissing and if she could maybe experience it. “The first time someone kissed me I did the same… though mine wasn’t an accident.”

“Lena!”

“What? He deserved it. He didn’t ask for consent… and I preferred his sister.”

“What was his name?”

“Kara Danvers,” Lena arched a brow at Kara as the steel of Supergirl bled into her innocent question. “You are _not_ to go find him just to put the fear of God, or Rao, into him.”

“Consent is important, Lena,” Kara wheedled.

“Agreed,” Lena admitted easily but didn’t let on that just the thought of Kara asking if it would be okay to kiss her did things to her. “But I think he got the point of that when I broke his nose.”

“Spoilsport.”

Chuckling softly at the very ‘Kara’ pout, Lena reclaimed her seat next to Kara on the couch and handed her her glass of juice. “Drink,” she ordered at her pout.

Kara lifted the glass and after no one rushed in with any kind of hoped for emergency to stop her, she took a tentative sip of the lurid green liquid and swore her tastebuds started to sing like a chorus of Disney Princesses as the juice washed over them.

“What? What in the name of Rao is this?” She took a deeper gulp, savouring the taste and fragrance of it. It was as thick as cream but refreshing with it without the tartness she associated with most Earth grown fruits.

“Clarke won't tell me,” Lena pouted. “Fruit and ancient Nymph magic is as much as I can make out. The properties are restorative but I can’t work out what the fruit is. It’s like it changes depending on what the drinker needs to be able to enjoy it.”

“It changes?”

“Yeah. The first time I had it I swore it tasted similar to peach nectar but someone else got orange, and someone else tasted pear. And it was from the same bottle. What are you getting?”

A tear trembled against Kara’s lashes as she finally placed the taste and scent to things she had loved on Krypton. It almost felt like it should have been a cruelty to experience something she’d lost so many years before but it was a comfort to know she hadn’t forgotten.

“It tastes like a fruit we used to have growing in our garden on Krypton. It didn’t fruit each year with how our climate was changing but, when it was ripe it had this really special scent,” eyes drifting shut, Kara breathed in the scent rising from the glass. “It was _just_ like this. It’s hard to describe it as it’s almost more of a memory than anything but… Like summer flowers and crisp mountain air combined? I never thought I would get to taste anything like it again,” she smiled, cradling the glass between both hands like it contained the elixir of life and the answer to everything within it.

Rather than spouting platitudes that Kara had no doubt heard a million times before, Lena closed what little gap remained between them and silently offered her strength and support. A silence settled between them, broken and measured by the gentle ticking of a clock on the mantle above the fireplace and their breathing. It was easy, comforting, reminiscent of game and movie nights that had stretched out into sleepovers because they had just been too comfortable to end the night.

“What you asked before… If I think there could be more?” Lena could feel the weight of Kara’s eyes upon her and the nervous hope within her beautiful blue gaze. “It scares me how much I want that—”

“Scares you? Lena, there’s no need—”

“I’m damaged goods, Kara! You deserve better than all the baggage that comes with me and the Luthor name.”

“Firstly, the Luthor name doesn’t deserve you. And secondly, isn’t that something I should be allowed to decide for myself? Unless you really didn’t want me of course! I’m all about the consent. But if it’s something you want too—”

“I love you. I have for a long time. But… We still have a lot to talk about and sort out, Kara. Maybe one day soon we can be more.”

“But?”

“But, not right now. I’ll start working on repairing the interdimensional extrapolator… but I won’t be going back through with you. I need to heal and if I go back I’m not going to get that. I— I hope you can understand that?”

“I do but—” Kara sucked in a breath that hitched and caught painfully in her throat.

“Hey, we can still talk and visit, remember? I’m not cutting you out of my life.”

“It’s okay,” Kara whispered, her voice threatening to crack. “I’d best get back to Alex. Nicole was going to show us where we could stay.” Putting the glass back down on the coster, she rose from the couch, Lena standing with her.

Snagging Kara’s wrist, Lena pulled her to a halt, knowing she was only getting her way because Kara chose to stop. “Kara—”

“No, it’s okay,” Kara smiled listlessly. “I’ll be okay.”

“_We’ll_ be okay,” Lena amended for her. Wrapping her arms around Kara, Lena held her as close and tight as was humanly possible. Kara was stiff within her arms for the time it took her heart to beat once and then her taller fame softened and moulded to the shape of hers like they were made to fit together.

They stayed like that, their hug lasting far longer than any hug between friends ever should but neither of them complained or said anything until they started to ease back by some unspoken mutual agreement. Even then, their touch lingered, hands sliding across backs and arms until they found each other's hands. And, as they did, Lena got caught up in Kara’s eyes. Her eyes darted between the darkening blues and the soft, plump curve of her lips as it got caught between straight white teeth.

“Lena?”

“Mhm?”

“Can I kiss you?”

Lena answered with her body, surging into her toes to meet the dip of Kara’s head. Their lips came together softly and Lena moaned into the light, fruity taste of the juice that lingered upon Kara’s lips. The scientist in her had a brief moment to marvel at the exotic taste of the alien fruit and the even more thrilling taste of Kara as their mouths moved together and their bodies moulded to each other. Then there was not a thought in her head that didn’t involve what she felt for the remarkable woman in her arms, just how damned amazing she was at kissing and how had she managed to get her top off without breaking their kiss?


	12. Chapter 12

## Purgatory

Waverly’s hands spasmed and clutched at her pillow and covers as a noise pierced her sleep and jolted her towards waking. Blinking back the shroud of sleep, her brow furrowed in confusion as she peered through the sleep tousled curtain of her hair at the bedroom dimly lit by the traces of morning sun seeping around the edges of the thick curtains that tried to hold it back.

The fading echo of a scream lingering on the air and in her mind filled in some of the gaps as to what had startled her into waking but what had caused it remained a mystery a moment longer as Nicole’s thoughts coming from the kitchen where she was seeing to the ravenous hoard better known as their children, were jumbled with humour, while a cautious scenting of the air revealed who had screamed but no new threat around the village.

**********

“Alex!”

Throwing a wistful and apologetic look, and a blanket, in Lena’s direction to help cover up her nakedness, Kara bounded off the bed and rushed after her sisters rapidly retreating back.

“Alex! Hold on! Wait up, Alex!”

Alex kept walking, trying to escape the buzzing in her head and two things that were burnt into her memory in far too much detail for her peace of mind given that she had only had the misfortune to glance into the bedroom for a split second. One, been just what Lena Luthor looked like naked… And the second was the sight of her sister between Lena Luthor’s parted thighs.

“Alex!” Darting into range, Kara snagged her sister by the wrist and pulled her to a halt. “Rao, did you get super-speed when we came here?”

“Kara— Jesus Christ, Kara! Clothes!”

“Wha—” Kara glanced down as Alex covered her eyes with a hand and spun around. Belatedly, she realised that she was wearing little more than her underwear and it was slightly… eschew… in places and while it was modest, it showed more of her body than either of them wanted Alex to see right then… or ever!

A jumble of sound met Alex’s ears that was something akin to a started yelp and a rushed apology but what was said was drowned out by speed and a gust of air that blew her hair back as Kara sped away quicker than a speeding bullet… or, more precisely, a very underdressed Super.

Alex groaned at the thought and looked to the heavens. Before the groan faded, Kara was back in another hair ruffling gust of wind, this time wearing her clothes from the day before… and the imprint of lips in a less vivid shade of red than Alex was used to seeing on Lena Luthor’s mouth, right on her very flushed cheek.

“Seriously? You were gone two seconds to get dressed and still found time to kiss?”

Ducking her head to hide the blush she just _knew_ was spreading across her face, Kara shuffled and stabbed her toe into the dirt at the weight of her sister's gaze and accusatory tone. Usually, just that tone would have had her rushing to apologize even before she knew what she had done wrong but, she didn’t want to or feel the need, to apologize for anything she had done.

After all, it was Alex that had burst in on _them. _And, without knocking first which was just rude!

Before Kara could point that out though, she felt the weight of Alex’s body nudging into her side in a way that would have staggered anyone else but to them was just a sisterly tap.

“Hey, I’m happy for you, Kara.”

“What?”

“I’m happy for you,” Alex repeated slowly. “I mean it. That,” she waved her hand around in the general direction of the house and what she had seen, “that was just… unexpected. More than I wanted to ever see of my little sister in… _that_… circumstance.” She baulked as the memory she hoped to persuade J’onn to erase as soon as they got home rushed back to the front of her mind complete with a soundtrack of Lena’s lusty moans. “Now I know how you felt that time you burst in on date night with Maggie. I take it things went _well_ last night?”

Blushing, Kara pushed her hair back behind her ear when her fidgeting hand couldn’t find her glasses as they were still on Lena’s bedside table. “We… talked.”

“Talked, huh? Is that what the dorky kids are calling it these days?” she teased.

“Hey! I’m not dorky.”

“You kind of are, darling.”

The throaty purr wrapped around the words coming from Lena’s mouth had Kara going weak at the knees and her insides melting into a puddle of need, but it was the sight of the loosely belted, sheer gown artfully draped around dips and curves that she ached to explore further, that had almost sent her reeling into a head over heels tumble as she staggered on the spot. “Rao,” the name of her god floated out of her mouth as a moaned utterance of thanks and a plea for strength as Lena smirked and crooked a finger at her, motioning her over.

Lena held Kara’s glasses up ready and slid them into place on Kara’s nose as she used a burst of super speed to close the gap between them.

The morning sun kissed and bounced along the thick, curling strands of her golden hair, creating a mesmerising halo around Kara’s head. The glow of the sun paled in comparison to the bright, sunny smiled curving the lush fullness of lips that were still plump from the kisses they had shared through the night despite the pretty much invulnerable state of her skin under the power of a yellow sun.

Running her fingers through Kara’s hair, Lena tucked the strands back behind the shell of her ears and continued on to drape her arms over strong shoulders that always bore too much of the weight of the world upon them.

“Thought you might need these.”

“Huh? Oh!” Kara blushed as Lena tapped her glasses with a finger to focus her attention beyond the lights dancing in her crystal green eyes and the way her body felt under her hands as she let them rest just above Lena’s hips. “Right,” she grinned crookedly as she dipped her head, closing the gap between their mouths despite the pained groan coming over her shoulder from Alex.

**********

Yawning widely, Waverly rubbed at her eyes and pushed her hair back into some semblance of order. After the attack by the aliens turned vampire, and the long day of cleanup and planning that had followed, she was tempted to just curl back under the covers and attempt to hibernate until the new year. But, even as she thought of it, the soft giggles of her babies and her wife teased her ears, and the lush scent of breakfast wafted across her nose had her starting to push aside the covers.

** _“Stay put, breakfast is coming to you.”_ **

** _“Oh?”_ **

** _“Yep. Five minutes top. Any preference on drink?”_ **

** _“A tall glass of you and sweet kisses will do.”_ **

** _“Hmm, well, the girls have had pancakes so there’s plenty of syrupy kisses to go around.”_ **

Nicole’s gentle good humour and love for her and their children shone through their connections, warming Waverly right down to the tips of her toes as she wiggled them into the softness of the covers and the mattress beneath her. The bedroom door opened forcefully, bumping against the wall as three of their babies spilt in through the gap on a wave of giggles and, thankfully, freshly washed fingers that still somehow smelled of the syrup that coated the lips that pressed a flurry of sticky kisses against her cheeks.

“I lied about how long it would take,” Nicole winked as she followed along behind them.

“You seem to have a passenger there,” Waverly chuckled as she watched Nicole dip down low with an exaggerated groan, bending her tall frame below the level of the door while balancing the food-laden tray within her hands and Dom who was riding up high on her shoulders.

“Mhm. Just a little one. Settle down now, girls,” she ordered softly. She gave them all time to find their preferred spots on the bed before placing the tray on Waverly’s lap. “Breakfast is served, m’lady,” she uttered with the fakest, poshest voice she could manage and a deep bow that rolled Dom off her shoulders and into her waiting arms. “Gotcha!”

With a practised move, she leaned over more, finding the sweet curve of Waverly’s lips with her own while Dom planted a loud, and no doubt sticky, kiss against Waverly’s cheek. Waverly’s mouth curled into a smile against her own and Nicole kept the contact between them for as long as she could as Waverly tugged her and Dom down onto the bed beside her and the others.

“Mmm, more sweet kisses. The best way to start the day… The best family-friendly, PG-13 way,” Waverly amended, booping Nicole on the tip of her nose with a finger before the twinkle in her eyes could land her in trouble.

“I’ll give you that,” Nicole allowed with a smirk.

“So, what was going on?”

“Going on?” Nicole dragged her eyes up from the horrifying amount of syrup Waverly was pouring over her stack of pancakes in confusion.

“Yeah, that scream that woke me up?”

“Ahh. You didn’t listen in afterwards?”

“Nope, that would have been rude. I just made out that it was Alex and that nothing bad seemed to be going on and left it at that. So… what was going on?”

“It was Alex alright. She kinda worked out where her sister spent the night and walked in on something she didn’t expect to see.” She smirked.

“Oh? Ohhhhhhh!” Waverly drawled out, realisation blooming and taking form as Jas voiced her opinion on events with an adorable, Oscar-worthy, pout and ‘harrumph’. **_“Hey, Jas didn’t try to go over there did she?”_**

** _“Naw, I got to her first before the screaming kicked off, but I think she’s already managed to work out that Kara was over there still as she looked like Wynonna that time Doc stole her last doughnut right when she was on the cusp of her rut. I was dreading the paperwork I would have had to fill in if she’d carried through on her threat to rip the tyres off his car and shove them up his ass for that.”_ **

**_“One… Ouch! Two… don’t put things like that in my head over breakfast.” _**Waverly shuddered in a horror that was not all mock. How Nicole had put it was bad enough but, if there was one thing her sister was good at, it was painting a visceral and visual threat with few words and a very scathing look.

And, yep, sure enough, Jas was glowering in the direction of Lena’s village home like she could see through the walls and pierce Kara’s flesh at the same time.

“Jasmin, that’s enough of that.”

“But—”

“No. No ‘buts’, young lady,” Waverly admonished her gently but firmly in a tone that brooked no arguments. “Kara and her sister came a long way to make sure that Mama Lena is okay. They care about her just as much as you do.”

“She made Mama Lena cry!” Jasmin huffed out in offence.

“On purpose?”

Jasmin’s jaw clicked shut and her brow furrowed with the weight of her pondering. “There is no difference, Mama. Is there?” She looked between her parents for clarification.

“There’s a lot of difference, sweetie. And I hope you never have to find out the bad kind of tears. I don’t think Kara set out to make Lena cry though, not on purpose.”

“She made Alex scream,” Jas pointed out with a confused pout.

“Erm. Well,” Waverly looked to Nicole for backup but Nicole was too busy smirking. “She saw… Your mama will explain that to you when you’re older.”

“Chicken,” Nicole teased softly as Waverly threw her under the wheels of the bus that was her daughter’s curiosity. Scooping Jasmin up, pout and all, Nicole sat her down on her lap. “Kara and Mama Lena just took Alex by surprise, that’s all, sweetie.” She ran her fingertips through Jasmin’s hair in a pointless attempt to smooth the wild strands that always resisted all attempts to tame them.

“And, you know if there was anything wrong and Lena needed help, your Mama and I would be right over there,” Waverly pointed out softly, her fingers stroking over the downy softness of Jasmin’s cheek.

“Yeah, prying Jasmin’s jaw off someone’s ahhs— behind,” Nicole quickly tried to course-correct her language as her quiet whisper, unfortunately, made it further than she had intended if Waverly’s glower of admonishment and the girls’ giggles were anything to go by. “Oops.”

“Mhm. I was going to offer you a bite of pancake but potty-mouthed Alpha’s don’t deserve sweet treats.”

Normally, Nicole would have pointed out that she _hadn’t_ officially sworn and that Waverly put enough syrup on one serving to put the whole of Purgatory into a diabetic coma… But, this was lesson time for the girls, not ‘spend the foreseeable future sleeping out with the horses’ time. So, once she had given an appropriately contrite look to satisfy Waverly, Nicole accepted her punishment and chewed on the syrup-drenched bite of pancake Waverly offered her like it was the best syrup-drenched bite of pancake in the world.

** _“Never play poker with Wynonna and the boys, Nicole. With a face like that, they will bleed you dry in a couple of hands.”_ **

**_“Hey, I’ve got a perfectly good poker face.” _**Nicole mentally stuck her tongue out at Waverly.

**_“Nicole. Babe. You really haven’t. Which is okay, because I love your openness and inability to hide anything from me.” _**Leaning closer, Waverly swept her thumb across Nicole’s cheek as she cupped her face in the warmth of her hand and stole the smile and lingering taste of syrup from her lips in a series of kisses that had her lips tingling and her toes curling in delight.

A series of deep sighs, giggles and the distinct sound of munching as pancakes were pilfered from the stack on her plate had them reluctantly parting with fond smiles as they took in the unrepentant, sticky faces smiling up at them.

“Sometimes,” Waverly chuckled softly as she tickled Kat in the sides until she creased up into a giggling ball, “I think we should cut back on how much time they spend with Wynonna.”

“Sometimes? You only think that_ sometimes_?” Her droll teasing broke into a grin at Waverly’s admonishing, and very adorable, pursed lips, glare over the heads of their girls who were taking everything in like sponges, absorbing _everything_ around them as always.

But, Nicole reasoned, at least while they were waiting for her to gig herself into a hole, Jas wasn’t paying any attention to anything that was or wasn’t happening over and Lena’s house. Which, right then was nothing.

**********

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

Alex glanced back to find her sister had fallen out of step and started to trail behind while she had been looking around at the village under the light of a new dawn and without the panic that had fuelled her rush to Lena’s when she had awoken to find that Kara hadn’t slept in her bed.

“Sure. Apart from needing my brain and eyes bleaching,” she smiled as reassuringly as she could as those damn memories started creeping back in again.

“What? No, Alex. I mean are you okay… with Lena and I… together?”

Alex stopped, turning to give Kara her full attention and took in her sister. And, that was what she was. Never mind the powers she possessed and the cape she wore, above everything, Kara was her sister. And right then, her little super-powered sister was wearing the same slightly panicked look Alex had seen on her own face when she had interacted with anyone when she’d realised that she wasn’t as straight as she’d always thought after all.

The self-discovery had been both liberating and terrifying and the fear that suddenly her friends and family would find out and judge and hate her for who she was had been all-consuming.

“Kara. You’re my sister. As far as I’m concerned, no one is ever going to be good enough for you. But!” she interrupted as Kara’s mouth started to open ready to fly into ‘protect Lena at all cost’ mode. “I like Lena… Even though she had some slightly questionable ideas at times, knows how to make Kryptonite and has got the _worst_ family ever… she’s saved us all more than once. I just want you to be happy and Lena does that. If that ever changes though I will lock her up where even you can’t find her and throw away the key.” She teased only slightly. “Let’s just say she’s in for a hell of a shovel talk when we get back to our Earth.” Alex chuckled as she continued walking.

“She… still doesn’t want to go back.”

“What!?” Alex had to stop for a moment to let Kara’s fading whisper soak in. Slowly spinning on her heel, she turned back around so she could study Kara’s face intently for clues, only to find that Kara looked more nervous about her reaction than anything else. Which just confused Alex even more. Surely, Kara should have been looking more devastated that the women she had spent months moping about and they had crossed the multiverse for didn’t want to return home with them? “You didn’t get that sorted out?! What were you doing—No!” Alex quickly waved her arms around and screwed her eyes shut. “Forget I asked that!”

“Why wouldn’t you want to know—? We just talked, Alex!” Kara rushed out at the expression on Alex’s face told her just what she thought they had been doing all night. And while that would have been beyond amazing as far as Kara was concerned… it wouldn’t have been right at the time because they’d needed to talk more than anything.

“That wasn’t _just_ talking I walked in on.” Alex cocked an eyebrow at her sister that had Kara blushing slightly.

“Well, the talking was last night.” And there might have been a lot of kissing and touching between the talking but they hadn’t done anything that was obviously going through Alex’s mind.

“If you ‘talked’,” Alex threw her best sarcastic air quotes around the word, “how come she still wants to stay?”

“It’s been a fresh start for her here, Alex. No one judging her because of her name and she feels like she needs that. I can understand how she feels and I’m sure you can too?”

Alex could hear the steel running through Kara’s voice. The conviction that always seemed to accompany her defence of Lena. However, her body language was more uncertain. A frown putting a deep crinkle between her brows that showed clearly above the bridge of her glasses.

“I can understand how she’s feeling in a way,” Alex admitted. “I think in Lena’s position there aren’t many that wouldn’t take the chance to start over. What about you though, Kara? Even if I believed you even a fraction about the ‘just talking’ last night… You were doing a lot more a bit ago—”

“So much more.”

“I’m trying to forget all that,” Alex admonished. “Kara, I know how much you love Lena but this would be taking a long-distance relationship to extremes. Wait, are you thinking of staying on this Earth too?”

“Lena is going to work on the extrapolator so we can travel between Earths easier but… Would it really be so bad if I did decide to stay here?” Kara questioned cautiously. “Clark and Lois left Earth completely. Even with the best ships, it would take too long for him to get back to Earth in an emergency but with a better extrapolator I could have a life on this Earth with Lena if things went well between us and I could still be on call to protect you and Earth 38.”

“I— I don’t know what to say, Kara,” Alex forced the words out around the lump in her throat and the sudden rush of tears that stung her eyes at the thought of Kara moving away. It was selfish of her to feel hurt, she knew it was. Just as she knew that Kelly would have some gently spoken but strong words about how she was feeling if she was there.

“Just say you’ll always be my sister, no matter what,” Kara begged quietly, tears stinging her eyes as she looked up from where her eyes had dropped to study the ground between them.

“Oh, Kara,” Alex pulled her into a tight hug, putting every ounce of strength she could into making it as tight as possible in the hopes that Kara would feel all the love she had for her within their embrace. “I might have been a raging, unappreciative ass of an hormonal teen when you came into my life,” she tightened her hold before Kara could protest what she knew was an apt description. “But, you have always been, and always will be, my sister no matter what you decide.”

When they finally released each other from their hug and Alex once more led the way to their new home away from home to try and sate Kara’s hunger… one of them anyway, Alex knew she would have been lying to herself if she tried to deny that, no matter what she had said to Kara, she wasn’t still scared that her sister might choose to live her life on that Earth.

Alex had sent too many years trying to create a physical and emotional distance between them to protect Kara from the organisation she had become a part of. In doing so she had only hurt them both in the process. Now though, she couldn’t imagine a life in which Kara wasn’t right there, just a call or a shout away, standing and working at her shoulder and, more importantly, just been there for her as her sister.

She couldn’t admit any of that to Kara though. She loved her sister enough to know she needed the space to make her own decisions, no matter what that might be, and not pressure or guilt her.

“What do you fancy for breakfast then?” she asked as cheerfully as she could. “And if the next word out of your mouth is ‘Lena’, I’ll leave you to fend for yourself!” Alex warned as she caught Kara’s smirk out of the corner of her eye.

“I wasn’t going to say anything!” Kara defended herself even as the memory of the sweetness of Lena’s kisses came back to her. “You know me and food, I’ll eat anything. What are you having?”

“Not much just now. Alexandria has offered to train with me later and I don’t want to be too weighed down with food.” As they neared the house nestled in a sunny clearing between the trees, Alex looked around, her training helping her to pick out the guards placed at regular intervals between the trees. She knew there were more still stationed higher up amongst the branches but they were so well trained she couldn’t see any of them even though she knew where they should be. “They have regular training here and I think she wants to see what kind of moves I’ve got. And, can’t deny, I’m interested in seeing her and the others up close too.”

**********

“Let me get this straight… You agreed to train with Alexandria?”

The anticipation in the silken purr of Lena’s voice had a fissure of nervousness streaking up and down Alex’s spine. Going for an air of nonchalance, she finished her stretching, testing out the limit of her borrowed clothing as well as warming up her body, before looking at the other woman. “Okay, what gives?” she demanded as she caught Lena smirking at her.

“I don’t know what you mean?”

“Oh, don’t give me that innocent tone Lena. I saw that smirk on your face. Is this because I interrupted you getting some this morning?”

“Alex!” Kara whined.

“It wasn’t,” Lena huffed. “But now that you’ve reminded me of what I missed out on…”

“Lena!” Kara tried again. She could feel the heat of a blush crawling across her cheeks.

“Come on, darling. Training here is something of a spectator sport so we don’t want to be late or you’ll have to fly us up to get a good view. And, even though I’m not fond of heights, it would be worth it just to see what’s coming.” Smirking in anticipation and also because she knew it would wind Alex up, Lena strode imperiously towards the door. She heard the distinct sound of Kara’s stride closing in on her and thrilled to the feel of her strong hand tangling with hers.

“Is this okay?” Kara tightened her fingers questioningly around Lena’s more delicate ones.

“More than okay,” Lena smiled, squeezing back as she leaned into Kara’s body so they brushed together with each step.

“Why are you so keen to see this anyway?” Kara whispered the question as they made her way through a steady stream of people that, yes, they all seemed to be moving in the same direction towards an area where she could hear the sounds of heavy breathing and the rhythmic clatter and hearty thunk of seasoned wood repeatedly striking wood without any effort on her part.

“Hmm, call it petty Luthor genes.”

“Lena—” Kara protested. She hated it when Lena used her surname to disparage herself.

Catching Kara’s eye, Lena sank her teeth into her lip and effectively derailed Kara’s instinctive defence of her before she even leaned closer, drawing Kara closer to purr into her ear a throaty admission. “And a healthy dose of sexual frustration.”

“Lena.” Kara squeaked out breathily, her voice dipping and fading to a whisper. Her breath puffing out against the elegant curve of Lena’s neck as she leaned closer, burying her blushing face into the loose strands of Lena’s dark hair.

From the very beginning, Lena had always had that effect of her. The ability to reduce her to a blustering, blushing mess with a word or a look. The difference now though, was that _finally_, Kara knew that it wasn’t Lena’s way of treating all friends. She knew what her own responses meant and that they were more than welcome and reciprocated. She knew that she was allowed to respond in kind and she did so by using the curtain of Lena’s hair to hide her actions as she pressed a kiss to Lena’s pulse.

She felt the soft rumble of Lena’s moan vibrate across her lips before she reluctantly drew back to look down into eyes that had gone dark with need and lips flush with blood. Kara grinned in pride for being able to garner such a response from her usually a poised and self-assured friend… lover… almost lover… girlfriend? And earned herself a grumbled huff as Lena tugged on her hand to get them moving again.

_Score one to the alien after the hundreds of times Lena had left her tripping over her own feet._

Alex shook her head fondly as she followed on behind them at a slower pace so she didn’t have to witness too much of the lovey-dovey, kissy-kissy that was going on. It was kind of cute and adorable, seeing them together, seeing their love blossoming… she just didn’t want another close up look at them _blooming_ all over the furniture again.

“Good morning, Alex.”

Alex startled more than she would have liked to admit, her skills and training failing her for once as Clarke appeared with Raven beside her obviously acting as her guard and fell into step at her side without a sound to give away her approach until she spoke. “Morning, Clarke, Raven.”

“Are you ready for Alexandria’s form of training then?”

“I was… until Lena got all excited at the prospect when I told her,” Alex admitted with narrowed eyed glare thrown in the direction of Lena’s back just in case she should turn around.

“Hmm, could that have something to do with the scream we heard you give earlier?” Clarke chuckled knowingly at the grimace that crossed Alex’s face.

“I wasn’t that loud,” Alex protested.

“You kind of were,” Clarke nudged her shoulder against the taller redheads. “Raven even commented on it and she can sleep through almost anything.”

“You were kind of loud,” Raven smirked.

“In my defence— Jesus Christ!” Alex broke off, whatever she had ready to say in defence of her scream flying out of her mind as she finally got a good look at the training ground and the couple engaged in what she could only describe as an all-out war in the centre of it.

Her jaw dropped open as she watched Alexandria and Nicole circling each other with hefty staffs clenched securely in their hands. They were dressed similarly in the same manner she was in her borrowed clothing that was light and layered but would offer no discernible protection against the staff if it got through.

Their steps were light, their bodies seeming almost to dance and float across the dusty ground as they moved in and out of range, leaping and twirling away from thrusts and swings delivered at full force at each others heads and any exposed body part at a blistering pace that was almost too quick to keep track of.

Blow upon blow was swung and parried. Wood cracking against wood with a force and sound that echoed off the trees and had Alex wincing and wanting to duck for cover.

Kara and Lena had reached the low fence that marked off the border of the training area and were talking with Waverly. Well, Lena was talking with Waverly, while Kara was just as mesmerized and distracted by the fierce battle before her as Alex had been… too distracted to realise that Jasmin was trying to burn a hole through her head with a fierce glower delivered from Lena’s arms.

“Alex, are you sure you want to get in there?” Kara mumbled out of the corner of her mouth as a particularly brutal flurry of blows broke out in the dangerous and deadly battle taking place.

“Kara, I’m trained—”

“Alex,” Kara interrupted, “I’m invulnerable, super strong and can fly and _I_ wouldn’t want to get in there and face that. What?” she asked as a round of snorts and chuckles broke out from everyone around them.

“Kara,” Lena patted her arm and nodded to where Alexandria and Nicole were stepping back from each other. Their breathing was easy and there wasn’t a bead of sweat on either of their brows. “Darling, this isn’t them training—”

“But—”

“You all warmed up now, Nicole?” Alexandria tossed her staff behind her for Gustus to catch while Nicole handed hers off to Anya with a cautious narrow-eyed glance to make sure it didn’t get swung back towards her head.

“Ready when you are.”

“Warmed up?” Alex gawped, her jaw slackening and eyes darting from the two women now swapping out their staffs for wickedly sharp swords, to Kara and what looked to be everyone in the village now crowding around eagerly, and back again. “That was warming up?”

Alex had sparred and fought beings much stronger and skilled than herself but even so, she was left breathless and unsure as she watched them.

“Don’t worry,” Waverly assured the stunned looking woman as the clang of swords rang out around the village, “I’m sure Alexandria will take it a little easier with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN - I've had a hell of a stressful couple of weeks where I've struggled to drag words out while wondering if the man I love would turn up alive or dead after he left messages for me and his family saying he would be away for a bit... which wouldn't be so bad a thing to do (still pretty shitty but not terrible) if he wasn't dying from cancer, suffering from depression, prone to seizures, and had a history of suicide attempts. Still haven't officially heard from him, or his family for the best part of a week now, but I have just seen a picture of him online... Anyway... I don't want to talk about any of that anymore... writing is my escape and I just really wanted to get something out so I just hope this doesn't suck too much.


	13. *** NOTE ***

Sorry, just an AN and not an update on all my Supercorp stories.

Firstly, I never though in my heart that Supercorp would become real. The chemistry is there but the show had proved repeatedly they are not invested in giving us a consistent LGBTQIA+ story even when they have got the characters in place by barely using them.

This is twice now (not including all of Mechad’s comments/views) where the cast has hurt our community and fuelled hatred that is always there. That coupled with the blatant queer bating that has been used to promote this season has left such a sour taste in my mouth that I can’t even stand the thought of touching my Supercorp stories.

They are not going to be abandoned (I hope) I just need to give myself time to heal so they are on hold. I will always love and support the Supercorp fandom but the show and cast will have to do a lot to draw me back into watching ever again.

When I’m back this note will be deleted and a chapter put in its place. Until then, stay strong, know you are all loved and that your love of Supercorp or any other ship is valid.


End file.
